Soo-Ja Choi

Soo-Ja is the main character of the book. When the book begins, Soo-Ja is a young woman who has dreams of seeing the world. To meet this goal, Soo-Ja has applied to train as a diplomat for her country. Soo-Ja is accepted into the program, but her father refuses to allow her to go because he believes it would look bad for him to send his unmarried daughter to the big city alone. Soo-Ja's mother suggests she marry a weak man so that she might manipulate him into taking her to the city to attend diplomat school. For this reason, Soo-Ja gives herself to Min Lee, a man she sees as both weak and heroic and someone who might understand her desire to see the world. Unfortunately, Min is a weak man who allows his father to bully him.

Soo-Ja spends the early years of her marriage...