Adam Johnson – författare

The award-winning and New York Times bestselling novel: a dark and witty story of the rise of a young orphan in the surreal and tyrannical regime of North Korea.'You know you are in the hands of someone who can tell a story. Fantastic' ZADIE SMITH'A stunning feat of imagination' STEPHEN KINGWINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTIONNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERNATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST------Young Pak Jun Do is convinced he is special. He knows he must be the unique son of the master of the orphanage, and definitely not some kid dumped by his parents. Surely it was obvious from the way his father singled him out for regular beating?He finds his calling when he is picked as a spy and kidnapper for his nation, the glorious Democratic Republic of North Korea.He knows he must find his true love, Sun Moon, the greatest opera star who ever lived, before it’s too late.He knows he’s not like the other prisoners in the camp.He’s going to get out soon.Isn't he?This hilarious, dark literary epic of a young boy's rise in North Korea from orphan to high-ranking officer won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for the National Book Award.Adam Johnson is working on a new work of fiction. 'An addictive novel of daring ingenuity' DAVID MITCHELL'Excavates the very meaning of life' NEW YORK TIMES

From the author of The Orphan Master’s Son, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and Fortune Smiles, winner of the US National Book Award, an epic masterpiece named one of ‘Ten Best Books of 2025’ by the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post‘Awesome… This astonishing novel, at once so primeval and so sophisticated, pulses with the same hopes and terrors that first pricked our imaginations around a fire as the sun set - a tapestry of South Pacific myth, archetypal quest, political allegory, environmental jeremiad and feminist revision that feels both ancient and impossibly relevant.’ Washington Post‘An epic of extraordinary abundance… modern and mythological… wondrous enough to endure’ Wall Street JournalWhen a mysterious visitor lands on her island, a place so remote its inhabitants have forgotten the word for stranger, young Kōrero finds herself thrust into a terrifying and magical world. Her people are desperate and on the brink of starvation, and the wayward stranger offers them an impossible choice: they can remain in the only home they’ve ever known and await the uncertainty to come, or Kōrero can join him and venture into unfamiliar waters, guided by only the night sky and his assurance of a bountiful future in the Kingdom of Tonga. What Kōrero and her people don’t know is that the promised refuge is no utopia - Tonga is an empire at war and on the verge of collapse, a place where brains are regularly liberated from skulls and souls may become trapped in coconuts.The perils of Tonga are compounded by a royal feud: loyalties are shifting, graves are being opened, and everyone lives in fear of a jellyfish tattoo. Here, survival can rest on a perfectly performed dance or the acceptance of a cup of kava. Together, the stranger and Kōrero embark upon an epic voyage - one that will deliver them either to salvation or to the depths of the Pacific.Evoking the grandeur of Wolf Hall and the splendor of Shōgun, Pulitzer Prizewinning novelist Adam Johnson conjures oral history, restores the natural world, and locates what’s best in humanity. Toweringly ambitious and breathtakingly immersive, The Wayfinder is an instant, timeless classic.

From the author of The Orphan Master’s Son, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and Fortune Smiles, winner of the US National Book Award, an epic masterpiece named one of ‘Ten Best Books of 2025’ by the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post‘Awesome… This astonishing novel, at once so primeval and so sophisticated, pulses with the same hopes and terrors that first pricked our imaginations around a fire as the sun set - a tapestry of South Pacific myth, archetypal quest, political allegory, environmental jeremiad and feminist revision that feels both ancient and impossibly relevant.’ Washington Post‘An epic of extraordinary abundance… modern and mythological… wondrous enough to endure’ Wall Street JournalWhen a mysterious visitor lands on her island, a place so remote its inhabitants have forgotten the word for stranger, young Kōrero finds herself thrust into a terrifying and magical world. Her people are desperate and on the brink of starvation, and the wayward stranger offers them an impossible choice: they can remain in the only home they’ve ever known and await the uncertainty to come, or Kōrero can join him and venture into unfamiliar waters, guided by only the night sky and his assurance of a bountiful future in the Kingdom of Tonga. What Kōrero and her people don’t know is that the promised refuge is no utopia - Tonga is an empire at war and on the verge of collapse, a place where brains are regularly liberated from skulls and souls may become trapped in coconuts.The perils of Tonga are compounded by a royal feud: loyalties are shifting, graves are being opened, and everyone lives in fear of a jellyfish tattoo. Here, survival can rest on a perfectly performed dance or the acceptance of a cup of kava. Together, the stranger and Kōrero embark upon an epic voyage - one that will deliver them either to salvation or to the depths of the Pacific.Evoking the grandeur of Wolf Hall and the splendor of Shōgun, Pulitzer Prizewinning novelist Adam Johnson conjures oral history, restores the natural world, and locates what’s best in humanity. Toweringly ambitious and breathtakingly immersive, The Wayfinder is an instant, timeless classic.