Pachinko meets Homegoing in this powerful story of family separation and reunion amid love and war from a Reese's Book Club LitUp fellow.When news hits in 1950 that the Americans have entered the war between North and South Korea, Oksoon and her family believe the conflict will soon end. But then China joins the war, and they decide to flee their home in Pyongyang despite the freezing temperatures and lack of food. Journeying from the barren, war-torn streets of the North in the winter to the seedy back alleys of the South Korean capital of Seoul in the summer, the family falls in with an unlikely group of miscreants. Meanwhile, far to the south, Oksoon's cousin Junho seeks refuge at an orphanage for abandoned children. As the institution struggles to keep its doors open, Junho, with his elementary command of English, is tasked with drafting letters to American missionaries and benefactors to ask for money. When the enigmatic director brings her aristocratic niece to the orphanage, Junho finds himself caught between his impulse for survival and his growing affections for the young woman, even though his feelings put him at risk of being expelled from the only safe place he knows. Movingly rendered, Song for Another Home highlights the power of resilience, the tension between personal dreams and duty to family, and how choices made in a brief moment have consequences that reverberate across time and through generations.
'Exceptional, immersive and evocative ... full of spirit' Buzz Magazine'Astonishing, huge in its scale and evocation of an unsung history' Luke Kennard, Booker-longlisted author of Black Bag'Paints a heartfelt tale of wartime Korean orphanages and shanty towns' Yangsze Choo, New York Times-bestselling author of The Fox WifeTHE STUNNING HISTORICAL NOVEL FROM A REESE'S BOOK CLUB FELLOW1950, Pyongyang. Oksoon's father - confident that the war is over - has left for Seoul in search of opportunity. There is nothing to do but wait, until the Chinese army attacks and forces Oksoon, her mother and her brother to flee southward themselves. But the journey is dangerous, and wartime makes enemies of even the kindest of friends.Meanwhile, Oksoon's cousin Junho has found uncertain refuge in a struggling orphanage near the southern coast. When the orphanage director's rich niece arrives, harbouring a secret, Junho must choose between his duty and his dreams if they are all to survive...What readers are saying:'Put this on your TBR list! 5 golden stars for me''Highly recommended ... as emotionally rich as it is historically illuminating''An impressive debut that is a page turner''Oh my heart. This is a must-read book!''What Reed does brilliantly is hold the large and the intimate at once. The war is never backdrop but the story never loses sight of the small human negotiations happening inside it'
Pachinko meets Homegoing in this powerful story of family separation and reunion amid love and war from a Reese's Book Club LitUp fellow.When news hits in 1950 that the Americans have entered the war between North and South Korea, Oksoon and her family believe the conflict will soon end. But then China joins the war, and they decide to flee their home in Pyongyang despite the freezing temperatures and lack of food. Journeying from the barren, war-torn streets of the North in the winter to the seedy back alleys of the South Korean capital of Seoul in the summer, the family falls in with an unlikely group of miscreants. Meanwhile, far to the south, Oksoon's cousin Junho seeks refuge at an orphanage for abandoned children. As the institution struggles to keep its doors open, Junho, with his elementary command of English, is tasked with drafting letters to American missionaries and benefactors to ask for money. When the enigmatic director brings her aristocratic niece to the orphanage, Junho finds himself caught between his impulse for survival and his growing affections for the young woman, even though his feelings put him at risk of being expelled from the only safe place he knows. Movingly rendered, Song for Another Home highlights the power of resilience, the tension between personal dreams and duty to family, and how choices made in a brief moment have consequences that reverberate across time and through generations.
'Exceptional, immersive and evocative ... full of spirit' Buzz Magazine'Astonishing, huge in its scale and evocation of an unsung history' Luke Kennard, Booker-longlisted author of Black Bag'Paints a heartfelt tale of wartime Korean orphanages and shanty towns' Yangsze Choo, New York Times-bestselling author of The Fox WifeTHE STUNNING HISTORICAL NOVEL FROM A REESE'S BOOK CLUB FELLOW1950, Pyongyang. Oksoon's father - confident that the war is over - has left for Seoul in search of opportunity. There is nothing to do but wait, until the Chinese army attacks and forces Oksoon, her mother and her brother to flee southward themselves. But the journey is dangerous, and wartime makes enemies of even the kindest of friends.Meanwhile, Oksoon's cousin Junho has found uncertain refuge in a struggling orphanage near the southern coast. When the orphanage director's rich niece arrives, harbouring a secret, Junho must choose between his duty and his dreams if they are all to survive...What readers are saying:'Put this on your TBR list! 5 golden stars for me''Highly recommended ... as emotionally rich as it is historically illuminating''An impressive debut that is a page turner''Oh my heart. This is a must-read book!''What Reed does brilliantly is hold the large and the intimate at once. The war is never backdrop but the story never loses sight of the small human negotiations happening inside it'