“My beloved has arrived, but rather than greeting him,
All I can do is bite the corner of my apron with a blank expression…My heart has longed for him as hugely and openly as a full moon
But instead I narrow my eyes, and my glance to him
Is sharp and narrow as the crescent moon.”
These fine lines set up, from the very beginning, a poetic tone for the beautiful color trilogy and immediately draw readers into the story created by Korean manhwa (graphic novel) artist, Kim Dong Hwa.
Ehwa and her widowed young mother live a simple and happy life in a rural Korean village. At the age of seven, Ehwa embarks on a journey of sexual awakening. Luckily, her mother, who is also her best friend as well as an intimate confidant, gives her many advices and insights. Ehwa starts to notice boys, and has her first crush on a monk called Chung-Myung, and later on Sunoo, a pale and handsome son of the village’s rich orchard owner who studies in the city. While Ehwa experiences mysterious feelings she has never had before, her mother falls in love again with a travelling picture man.
Teenaged Ehwa falls in love with a young wrestler named Duksam who she meets during a town festival. Though Ehwa tries to hide her feelings, for the first time, from her mother, their loving relationship never dwindles. In fact, Ehwa learns more from her mother’s wisdom and life experiences. Ehwa now secretly longs for her meetings with Duksam, and begins to understand why her mother so eagerly waits for her picture man to visit. Ehwa and Duksam’s love is threatened by Duksam’s aged master, Cho. Infatuated with Ehwa’s youth and beauty, Cho is determined to marry Ehwa himself.
Ehwa hopelessly bids goodbye to Ducksam who has to run for his life from Cho. Ducksam promises Ehwa that he’ll come back to marry her after he has made a fortune far away. Ehwa, now a young woman, knows the pain of love and experiences all the longings her mother holds.
Throughout the trilogy, highly poetic language and delicate drawings accentuate a touching story that reveals the genuine love women cherish and the amazingly intimate relationship between a daughter and a mother.
~Duan, The International District/Chinatown Branch
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