White Mulberry

A Novel

By: Rosa Kwon Easton

Narrated by: Michelle H. Lee

“A beautiful and deeply researched novel…If you loved Pachinko, you’ll love White Mulberry.” —Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women

Inspired by the life of Easton’s grandmother, White Mulberry is a rich, deeply moving portrait of a young Korean woman in 1930s Japan who is torn between two worlds and must reclaim her true identity to provide a future for her family.

1928, Japan-occupied Korea. Eleven-year-old Miyoung has dreams too big for her tiny farming village near Pyongyang: to become a teacher, to avoid an arranged marriage, to write her own future. When she is offered the chance to live with her older sister in Japan and continue her education, she is elated, even though it means leaving her sick mother—and her very name—behind.

In Kyoto, anti-Korean sentiment is rising every day, and Miyoung quickly realizes she must pass as Japanese if she expects to survive. Her Japanese name, Miyoko, helps her find a new calling as a nurse, but as the years go by, she fears that her true self is slipping away. She seeks solace in a Korean church group and, within it, finds something she never expected: a romance with an activist that reignites her sense of purpose and gives her a cherished son.

As war looms on a new front and Miyoung feels the constraints of her adopted home tighten, she is faced with a choice that will change her life—and the lives of those she loves—forever.

©2024 Rosa Kwon Easton (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“A beautiful and deeply researched novel…How does a woman protect her family, honor her heritage, and save herself? If you loved Pachinko, you’ll love White Mulberry.” —Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women and Lady Tan’s Circle of Women

“Easton eloquently reimagines her grandmother’s past—a brave young woman caught between two worlds. A story inspired and inspirational, White Mulberry exposes the forgotten history of Koreans in Japan.” —Alka Joshi, internationally bestselling author of The Henna Artist and the Jaipur Trilogy

“A beautiful and poignant novel of a young Korean woman’s coming of age amid the turbulence of colonization and World War II. The resilience and self-determination of the heroine vividly mirror the astonishing trajectory of her nation.” —Juhea Kim, author of Beasts of a Little Land