Broken Summer
J.M LEE
Translated by An Seon Jae
255 Pages
September 1, 2022
Amazon Crossing
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From J. M. Lee, one of Korea’s most renowned authors, comes an unforgettable novel of hidden truths, denials, and their inevitable repercussions.
A death, a lie, a secret. For twenty-six summers he didn’t have the courage to face the past.
Lee Hanjo is an artist at the peak of his fame, envied and celebrated. Then, on his forty-third birthday, he awakens to find that his devoted wife has disappeared, leaving behind a soon-to-be-published novel she’d secretly written about the sordid past and questionable morality of an artist with a trajectory similar to Hanjo’s. It’s clear to him that his life is about to shatter and the demons from his past will come out. But why did his wife do it? Why now?
The book forces Hanjo to reflect on a summer from his youth when a deadly lie irreversibly and tragically determined the fates of two families.
My Review
🖌️🖌️🖌️🖌️🖌️
I was hooked from the first chapter, where we meet Hanjo and get a glimpse of what his life is like now before we are dragged to the past where one fateful summer the lives of many will be affected, this event will have a ripple effect on each of them with consequences lasting a lifetime.
J.M Lee is such an incredible writer I really enjoyed the poetic way he told this story. I thought from the summary that this would be a story of Lee Hanjo trying desperately to keep the past from being dug up, a dark hidden secret that he couldn’t bare the world knowing however it was more that the past bubbled just below the surface and the story showed each person who was still alive and involved in that fateful summer, highlighting just how much damage those events inflicted on those around.
The characters were all very interesting and each had a different journey some of which were trying desperately to move on, build something new and forget the past, some stuck in place with that summer holding a grip on them and their future, living in regret or trying to seek the truth along with justice and revenge.
This is a dark tale intricately weaving many themes and hardships but what an amazing read. I was enthralled in the story both past and present and I needed to find out exactly what had happened and what would each characters fate be. This was not simple or straight forward every time I thought I maybe knew where the story was going there was a twist or new detail that made me question my ideas.
Broken Summer has a little of everything, a mystery, family drama, love and loss it isn’t for the faint of heart but I highly recommend this one
– Jenn
“Memories of the day and the landscapes glimpsed passed before his eyes. He imagined his own body as a container for memories and scenery. No matter how happy the moment, it always passes, but if you can store it in your memory, it remains yours forever.”
J. M. Lee
From master storyteller J. M. Lee, one of Korea’s most renowned authors, comes an unforgettable novel of hidden truths, denials, and their inevitable repercussions. Everyone still left standing from that terrible summer so long ago must finally reckon with the deceptions that started it all and, twist after shocking twist, reap both the suffering and the vindication that comes with revenge.
J. M. Lee’s books have sold millions of copies in his native Korea. He is the author of Painter of the Wind, the historical mystery that launched his career and was adapted into a popular and award-winning television series in Korea; The Boy Who Escaped Paradise; The Investigation, nominated for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and among the final six books selected for the Italian literary prize Premio Bancarella; and Broken Summer, an instant bestseller in Korea and currently in production as a television series.
An Seon Jae is an award-winning translator who was born in England in 1942. He has lived in Korea since 1980 and took Korean nationality in 1994. He has published fifty collections of translated modern Korean poetry under the name Brother Anthony and currently translates contemporary Korean fiction under his Korean name. He is a professor emeritus at Sogang University and a chair professor at Dankook University in Seoul, and he has been a member of the Community of Taizé in France since 1969.
About the translator
An Seon Jae is an award-winning translator who was born in England in 1942. He has lived in Korea since 1980 and took Korean nationality in 1994. He has published fifty collections of translated modern Korean poetry under the name Brother Anthony and currently translates contemporary Korean fiction under his Korean name. He is a professor emeritus at Sogang University and a chair professor at Dankook University in Seoul, and he has been a member of the Community of Taizé in France since 1969.
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