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Margaret Drabble: the search for the Crown Princess

A couple of years ago at the BAKS conference Margaret Drabble gave a fascinating talk about how she came to be captivated by the story of Lady Hyegyong, wife of Prince Sado. Sado was son of a king and father of a king, but never made it to the throne himself. Lady Hyegyong wrote her own version of how and why Prince Sado came to be put to death – by being locked in a rice chest. In The Red Queen, Margaret Drabble re-tells that story more than two centuries later.

The Search for the Crown Princess: A Modern Voice from the Past

Dame Margaret Drabble
20 October 2009, 6:30pm at Korean Cultural Centre UK

Poster for Red Queen talk‘The Red Queen’ is a historical novel narrated by an 18th century crown princess, based on the tragic life of her husband, the Crown Prince, Prince Sado of Korea. The Crown Prince, like many sons of a King with high expectations, grows up to be a disappointment to his father. The King is concerned about the future of his dynasty, his anxiety growing greater as the Noron-dominated government, who is against the Crown Prince, sways him into believing that the Crown Prince has a mental illness: a move which has the most tragic of consequences. Novelist, critic and biographer, Dame Margaret read English at Newnham College, Cambridge, and was awarded an honorary Doctorate in letters. Most of her seventeen published novels are centred on the theme of contemporary English society and its individual members.

Part of the Global Korea lecture series

Pre-registration is required by email to [email protected]

(automatically generated) Read LKL’s review of this event here.

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