The Shaman's Daughter

The Shaman's Daughter is the story of Yeonhui, the daughter of a single mother and gifted shaman – a mudang – born in a small Korean village in the early sixties. But being the daughter of a mudang, of a shaman, of people who are both feared and despised in Korean society as well as an illegitimate child, she endures ridicule and bullying throughout her childhood.

Yeonhui yearns for a normal life, a normal life where she is not an outcast and vilified, a life remote from shamanism and the spirit world all of which seems impossible…  that is until an American missionary family transfers to a nearby village and changes her life forever. But it is an American family that brings tragedy as well opportunity for her to breakaway from her roots—to marry and lead a normal life in the city. 

Marrying a man who loves her unconditionally and raising a family through opposition she begins to feel liberated from the curse of her shaman past … until one day she receives the Calling, the calling from something she thought she'd left behind. The Calling to become a mudang, just like her mother.  But accepting the Calling means lifelong stigma and suffering as well as possible destruction for herself and family. Desperate to protect her family from becoming social outcasts, she is seriously tested by the Spirit who will stop at nothing to use Yeonhui as both her heir and spiritual vessel. 

Moving with the power of myth, The Shaman's Daughter is a powerful mother daughter story of struggle and identity. It is a story of liberation of a young woman who dares to try and break the chains of fate, but whose daring has unimagined consequences.