All Things Under the Moon: A Novel

Pachinko meets Beasts of a Little Land in this stunning, evocative tale, set in 1920s Korea, of one seemingly ordinary woman—an uneducated villager living under Japanese occupation—who takes control of her own destiny and rises to become an advocate for women’s literacy as a force for change.

“Women need other women to survive.”

In 1924, Korea is an occupied country. In Seoul’s secret, underground networks and throughout the countryside, rebellion against the Japanese Empire simmers, threatening to boil over. Kim Na-Young lives a simple life in the rural village of Daegeori, where she watches the moon rise and set over the pine-wooded mountains, tends to her household alongside her best friend, Yeon-Soo, and cares for her sick mother.

But the occupation touches every Korean life—even Na-Young’s. In the wake of a tragedy that stuns the village, Na-Young’s father arranges her marriage to a man she’s never met, and Na-Young and Yeon-Soo decide to flee, taking their fate into their own hands. That decision sets them on their own collision course with the occupying forces, resulting in a violent encounter that will alter both of their lives forever—in shockingly different ways.

Taking us from a small village to the bustling corridors of Seoul, where women and girls can learn to read and write in multiple languages and members of the revolution pass coded messages through the back rooms of teahouses, Ann Y. K. Choi weaves a masterful tale of a woman taking command not only of her own identity but her own destiny.

A sweeping journey through historical Korea and an utterly compelling portrait of one woman’s remarkable life, All Things Under the Moon is both a stunning literary achievement and a beautifully written tribute to the sacrifices women make for each other.

Ann Y. K. Choi, originally from Chung-Ju, South Korea, is a Toronto-based author and educator. Her novel, Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety, was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award. In 2017, Choi was honoured by the Korean Canadian Heritage Awards committee and awarded with the Culture Award for promoting Korean heritage within Canada. Choi currently serves on the program advisory committee for gritLIT, Hamilton’s literary festival, mentors emerging writers in a group she founded called Writers in Trees, and teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies.

ISBN: 9781982114565
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: September 02, 2025

“A breathless and high-octane journey through the emotional terrain of a young woman coming of age in Korea in the colonial period, where every choice seems both wrong and right, and showcasing what women do to keep each other alive in every sense of the word.”
— LINDA RUI FENG, author of Swimming Back to Trout River“Cinematic, lovingly researched, and compassionately written, All Things Under the Moon will stay with readers for a long time. Ann Y.K. Choi has written a novel that would make the ancestors proud.”
— JENNILEE AUSTRIA-BONIFACIO, author of Reuniting with Strangers“Inspired by her great-grandmother's vivid storytelling, Ann Y.K. Choi’s All Things Under the Moon masterfully transports the reader to the pastoral villages and bustling capital city of Japanese-occupied Korea in the 1920s. The novel centers around Na-Young Kim, a naive country girl with dreams of learning to read and write like her older brother. You can’t help but root for mischievous Na-Young as she navigates her way through a series of very unfortunate events that are at turns heartbreaking, horrifying, and humorous. All Things Under the Moon is a riveting story of friendship, solidarity, and resistance that will stay with the reader long past the last page, perfect for fans of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or the Netflix series When Life Gives You Tangerines.”
— A.H. KIM, author of Relative Strangers“In Na-Young, Ann Y.K. Choi creates a strong and memorable young woman who learns from her mistakes while her roles shift and change through difficult times in occupied Korea. Choi is a storyteller through and through. This is, indeed, a satisfying novel.”
— FRANCES ITANI, bestselling author of The Company We Keep