First published 2010
June Han loses her family during the Korean War and ends up at a Korean orphanage. Hector Brennan, a young American soldier who left his small town to serve overseas, also finds himself at the same orphanage when the fighting ends. Both are drawn to Sylvie Tanner, the missionary's wife who works there. Sylvie carries deep wounds of her own, and her complicated love affects everyone around her. Thirty years pass. June and Hector meet again on the opposite side of the globe, pulled together by circumstances that force them to face what really happened at the orphanage. The secrets they buried and the acts of violence and love that connected them demand a reckoning. Lee tells their story by moving between past and present, showing how war changes people and how love can both save and destroy. The three characters must decide what they owe each other and whether redemption remains possible after so much loss.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adult-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Korea, United States
Period: Korean War, Thirty Years Later
480 pages · Hardcover · Riverhead Books
Content warnings: war