★The return of the world-class master, Hwang Sok-yong. An epic on history and life spanning 600 years

Hwang Sok-yong won the Manhae Literary Prize in 1989 for The Shadow of Arms, an exploration of the true nature of the Vietnam War. In 2000, he received the Danjae Prize and the Isan Literary Award form The Old Garden, which depicts the lives of those who struggled for change following the collapse of socialism. In 2001, he was awarded the Daesan Literary Award for The Guest, inspired by the Sinchon Massacre in Hwanghae Province. His major works including The Old Garden, Strange Land, The Guest, The Shadow of Arms, The Chronicles of Mr. Han, Shim Cheong, Princess Bari, and A Familiar World have been translated and published in countries such as France, the United States, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. The Guest, Shim Cheong, and The Old Garden were shortlisted for France’s Prix Femina, and The Old Garden was selected as Book of the Year in both France and Sweden. He received the Émile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature for At Dusk.

Hwang Sok-yong—winner of the Manhae Literary Prize, the Daesan Literary Award, and the Émile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature, and finalist for the International Booker Prize—returns after five years with his new novel, Halmae (Grandma).

The novel opens with the death of a bird. A hackberry seed in its belly sprouts into a tree that becomes Halmae (Grandma), a guardian deity. Through the eyes of this 600-year-old hackberry tree, the novel unfolds a sweeping panorama of Korea’s painful history and the lives of its people. From an early-Joseon era monk who seeks enlightenment in nature, to a martyr of the Donghak Peasant Revolution who dreamed of equality and freedom; from the years of exploitation and suffering under Japanese colonial rule, to the violent industrialization that followed post-liberation, and into the present day, the lives of characters across different eras bound together under the vast, life-giving roots of Halmae.

Weaving Korean sensibility with a universal philosophy of life, the novel observes how humanity and nature, life and death, are inseparable within a vast web of karma. Hwang Sok-yong’s powerful prose and grand narrative is an irresistible force, instantly drawing readers into the story. In an age marked by climate crisis and ecological destruction, this novel poses profound questions about the very essence of our existence.