The Woman With a Straw Crown

Matsuno Hana, a Zainichi Korean woman living in Yokohama, loses her mother in a sudden, violent fire—officially ruled an accident. But with her dying breath, her mother whispers a name that doesn’t belong to their life: Yun Dongju, the chairwoman of a major South Korean conglomerate, Saeil Group.

Grief turns into obsession when Hana uncovers a photograph from 1986: her mother, crowned “Miss Saeil,” standing beside Yun. Returning to Seoul for the first time in 22 years, Hana teams up with Meng Joonho, an investigative journalist building “Project Saeil,” and begins tracing the links between a forgotten pageant, a corporate dynasty, and a death that may have been orchestrated rather than accidental. As missing records and locked secrets surface, Hana is drawn into a world where revenge is strategy, truth is currency, and survival demands reinvention.

The Woman With a Straw Crown is a high-stakes mystery thriller that exposes the collusion and corruption hidden behind the rapid development of South Korean society, the relentless greed of the select few who have accumulated vast wealth, and the experiences of women who were forced to relinquish their agency simply because they were women. This is a book about identity, inheritance, and the cost of vanishing—until the moment you decide to be seen.

Praise for The Woman With a Straw Crown:

“Is there any other novel that so wholly and powerfully reveals the dark reality of modern Korean history hidden behind the dazzling success stories? Sang Young Park has drawn his sword. Although this novel’s genre marks a shift from the author’s contemporary love stories to a mystery that cuts across modern history, his blade has become even sharper. (…) At the moment when the women—who were never thought to be protagonists—finally take centre stage, this novel delivers unexpected twists and an unprecedented sense of catharsis. It is your choice to turn the first page. But until the moment you close the final page, you won’t be able to escape this novel for even a single moment.” 

– Kim Eun-hee, screenwriter of the acclaimed K-drama Signal

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been so completely captivated by a novel. I felt angry, anxious, and heartbroken the entire time I was reading. The Woman With a Straw Crown is a harrowing tragedy born of love and obsession, yet it does not dwell in futility. From the very depths of ruin, it draws forth the strongest forms of life and love, evolving into a modern heroic narrative in which the characters raise themselves beyond the shackles of desire. It is through this that the true nature of the women’s love is finally revealed.”

– Shim Eun-kyung (actress)