Graceful 'Court Dancer' Can't Escape Her Sorrows
Kyung-Sook Shin's atmospheric, tragic novel follows a beautiful orphan whose dancing skills secure her a place at the Korean court, and later a life in Belle Époque France — but not happiness.
When we first meet Yi Jin, the lithe heroine of Kyung-Sook Shin's atmospheric, tragic novel , she stands at a ship's helm beside "a tall Frenchman, his pale face covered in a mustache," while she holds "a hat embroidered with roses and a coat to wear later when the wind blew," with a "light blue dress that rustled like lapping waves." That last image is appropriate, since Jin is gazing
