Juhea Kim – författare

Winner of the Yasnaya Polyana Award * Finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize'Unforgettable' Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, author of The Mountains SingAs the Korean independence movement gathers pace, two children meet on the streets of Seoul. Fate will bind them through decades of love and war. They just don’t know it yet.It is 1917, and Korea is under Japanese occupation. With the threat of famine looming, ten-year-old Jade is sold by her desperate family to Miss Silver's courtesan school in the bustling city of Pyongyang. As the Japanese army tears through the country, she is forced to flee to the southern city of Seoul. Soon, her path crosses with that of an orphan named JungHo, a chance encounter that will lead to a life-changing friendship.But when JungHo is pulled into the revolutionary fight for independence, Jade must decide between following her  own ambitions and risking everything for the one she loves.Sweeping through five decades of Korean history, Juhea Kim's sparkling debut is an intricately woven tale of love stretched to breaking point, and two people who refuse to let go.Longlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Longlist 2022 * Longlisted for the Nota Bene Prize 2023'A stunning achievement' TLS

From the acclaimed author of Beasts of a Little Land and Reese’s Book Club pick City of Night Birds, an exquisite story collection about humans in precarious balance with the natural world. ‘A rare jewel … essential reading for right now’ COCO MELLORS ‘Kim’s work is ambitious, elegant and deeply intellectual’ PANDORA SYKES 'Resonant…affecting…lyrical…Throughout the collection, fleeting connections offer glimmers of hope…Her fiction offers a powerful reminder of what we stand to lose; that we are part of nature; and ‘we have within ourselves everything we need to save humanity’ Financial Times 'Finely wrought stories…examining human selfishness and finding gleaming moments of care and conviction, often prompted by an encounter with a nonhuman being. Humanness, Kim suggests, cannot be wrested from the natural world: when we lose the latter, we lose ourselves' The New Yorker What does it mean to live on our miraculous planet? Vivid, transportive, and heartfelt, each of these ten stories is a reflection of individual choice in the face of manmade apocalypse: in a near-future Seoul encased by a translucent biodome, a civil engineer charged with its upkeep contemplates an arranged marriage. An American painter travels to the South of France and is seduced by an entrepreneur who claims to have unlocked human consciousness. And where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet, on an island that has turned into a gargantuan landfill from other countries’ waste, a boy has a fateful brush with K-pop superstars. For readers of Richard Powers, Elif Shafak and Barbara Kingsolver, Juhea Kim’s first story collection views our world from breathtaking heights. A Love Story from the End of the World is an impassioned reminder that our humanity – and our best hope – will always be found in nature.

A once-famous ballerina faces a final choice—to return to the world of Russian dance that nearly broke her, or to walk away forever—in this incandescent novel of redemption and loveOn a White Night in 2019, prima ballerina Natalia Leonova returns to St. Petersburg two years after a devastating accident stalled her career. Once the most celebrated dancer of her generation, she now turns to pills and alcohol to numb the pain of her past.She is unmoored in her old city as the ghosts of her former life begin to resurface: her loving but difficult mother, her absentee father, and the two gifted dancers who led to her downfall.One of those dancers, Alexander, is the love of her life, who transformed both Natalia and her art. The other is Dmitri, a dark and treacherous genius. When the latter offers her a chance to return to the stage in her signature role, Natalia must decide whether she can again face the people responsible for both her soaring highs and darkest hours.Painting a vivid portrait of the Russian ballet world, where cutthroat ambition, ever-shifting politics, and sublime artistry collide, City of Night Birds unveils the making of a dancer with both profound intimacy and breathtaking scope. Mysterious and alluring, passionate and virtuosic, Juhea Kim’s second novel is an affecting meditation on love, forgiveness, and the making of an artist in a turbulent world.

From the acclaimed author of Beasts of a Little Land and City of Night Birds, an exquisite, globetrotting story collection about humans in precarious balance with the natural worldSpanning multiple locales and epochs, and rendered in fine detail and vivid color, this transportive collection shows what it means to live as human inhabitants on our one miraculous planet. Lyrical, at times hilarious, and always heartfelt, each of these ten stories is a reflection of individual choice in the face of man-made apocalypse: in a near-future Seoul, where air pollution has become so fatal that the city has been encased in a translucent biodome, a civil engineer charged with its upkeep contemplates an arranged marriage. A painter, disenchanted with New York City, travels to the South of France and falls into a dalliance with an entrepreneur who claims to have invented a new color. And on an island where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet, upon which other countries have relegated their waste to form a mountain of landfill, a local boy facing daily privation gets internet famous for his K-pop-inspired dances. With the clear-eyed reverence of Richard Powers and the sparkling sincerity of George Saunders, Juhea Kim’s first story collection views our broken world—and broken hearts—from breathtaking heights. A Love Story from the End of the World delivers an impassioned reminder that we are human—but without nature, we are nothing at all.

'A novel that will be read and loved for the next one hundred years, and essential reading for right now. I could not have loved it more.' Coco Mellors, author of Blue Sisters'This story left me thinking about the ways we overcome setbacks and redefine what truly matters.'  Reese Witherspoon A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK FOR DECEMBER 2024 * A HARPER'S BAZAAR BEST BOOK OF 2024Slowly recovering from a terrible accident, Natalia is faced with a devastating choice – to return to the cutthroat world of Russian ballet that nearly broke her, or to walk away forever – in this sweeping novel of love and redemptionPrima ballerina Natalia Leonova was once celebrated across the world, her signature bravura in demand on stages from St. Petersburg to Paris to New York. But at the top of her career, an accident forces her into sudden retirement. Injured and alone, she turns to pills and alcohol to numb the pain of her past, still haunted by her relationships with two gifted dancers, Dmitri and Alexander. These men were responsible for her soaring highs, her darkest hours and, ultimately, both played their part in her downfall.So when Dmitri resurfaces with a tantalising offer for Natalia, she must decide what she is willing to sacrifice in order to dance again – and for the chance to return to the great love of her life. Painting a vivid portrait of a world in which ruthless ambition, desire and sublime artistry collide, City of Night Birds unveils the making of a dancer with profound intimacy and breathtaking scope.From the author of Beasts of a Little Land, winner of the Yasnaya Polyana Award'A beautifully crafted must read' Jason Mott, author of Hell of a Book