by Ha Jin
First published 2004
Yu Yuan, a young Chinese army officer, arrives in Korea in 1951 as part of Mao's "volunteer" corps supporting the Communist forces. When American troops capture him, his English skills make him the unofficial interpreter in a prisoner of war camp. The camp becomes a battlefield of psychological warfare where surveillance never stops and loyalty to authority governs every moment. Yu navigates between his fellow prisoners and their captors while both sides wage war for the minds of the detained men. Every conversation carries risk. Every decision tests what prisoners believe about duty, survival, and identity. The captives try to build bonds with each other while watching for betrayal in every interaction. Only thoughts of returning home offer hope that they might reclaim who they were before capture. Yet as Yu's imprisonment continues, the very meaning of home shifts in ways he cannot foresee.
Genres: fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, war, military-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Korea
Period: 1951
352 pages · Hardcover · Pantheon
Content warnings: war