Beasts of a Little Land - Large Print by Juhea Kim (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"A spectacular debut filled with great characters and heart." --Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fa

"This might be the most gripping, insightful work from the best-selling author Alafair Burke yet. She poses a seemingly impossible, if undeniably compelling, challenge: a woman must either save her life or defend her husband, but not both." -- Entertainment Weekly

From New York Times bestselling author Alafair Burke, a stunning psychological domestic thriller in the vein of Behind Closed Doors and The Woman in Cabin 10--in which a woman must make the impossible choice between defending her husband and saving herself.

His Scandal - Her Secret

When Angela met Jason Powell while catering a dinner party in East Hampton, she assumed their romance would be a short-lived fling, like so many relationships between locals and summer visitors. To her surprise, Jason, a brilliant economics professor at NYU, had other plans, and they married the following summer. For Angela, the marriage turned out to be a chance to reboot her life and bury her secrets. She and her son were finally able to move out of her mother's home to Manhattan, where no one knew about her tragic past.

Six years later, thanks to a bestselling book and a growing media career, Jason has become a cultural lightning rod, placing Angela near the spotlight she worked so carefully to avoid. When a college intern makes an accusation against Jason, and another woman, Kerry Lynch, comes forward with an even more troubling allegation, their life begins to unravel. Jason insists he is innocent, and Angela believes him. But when Kerry becomes a missing woman, Angela is forced to take a closer look--at both the man she married and the women she chose not to believe.

This much-anticipated and gripping thriller, a follow-up to Burke's Edgar-nominated The Ex, asks how far a wife will go to protect the man she loves.

FINALIST FOR THE 2022 DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE - FINALIST FOR THE BALCONES FICTION PRIZE - LONGLISTED FOR THE HWA DEBUT CROWN AWARD

This epic historical saga of love, war, and redemption set against the backdrop of the Korean independence movement, following the intertwined fates of a young girl sold to a courtesan school and the penniless son of a hunter.

In 1917, deep in the snowy mountains of occupied Korea, an impoverished local hunter on the brink of starvation saves a young Japanese officer from an attacking tiger. In an instant, their fates are connected--and from this encounter unfolds a saga that spans half a century in this unforgettable character-driven story.

In the aftermath, a young girl named Jade is sold by her family to Miss Silver's courtesan school, an act of desperation that will cement her place in the lowest social status. When she befriends an orphan boy named JungHo, who scrapes together a living begging on the streets of Seoul, they form a deep friendship that becomes the heart of their new found family. As they come of age, JungHo is swept up in the revolutionary fight for independence, and Jade becomes a sought-after performer with a new romantic prospect of noble birth. Soon Jade must decide whether she will risk everything for the one who would do the same for her in this powerful love story.

From the perfumed chambers of a courtesan school in Pyongyang to the glamorous cafes of a modernizing Seoul and the boreal forests of Manchuria, where battles rage, Juhea Kim's unforgettable characters forge their own destinies as they wager their nation's. Immersive and elegant, this stunning work of literary fiction, Beasts of a Little Land unveils a world where friends become enemies, enemies become saviors, heroes are persecuted, and beasts take many shapes.

Review Quotes

"A magnificent, mesmerizing story of love and war...an evocative and emotive historical novel...characters are so sensitively and carefully drawn that even the 'enemy' can be seen to have a human side. Cinematic in its scope, this is the type of novel that the reader finishes both with pleasure (for its satisfying dénouement and pleasing circularity) and sadness (at having to leave the story behind)." - New Internationalist

"[Beasts of a Little Land] is epic in scope, but it's also filled with intimate language and moments." - NPR

"We see what each of these characters is willing to risk or sacrifice, whether for survival or some other purpose...remarkable." - Ploughshares

"Assured and textured debut...following a cast of characters whose fates are molded and linked together by the country's political forces and who, in the face of colonialism, violence and severe injustice, carve out spaces to live and love." - New York Times Book Review

"Accomplished.... As the paths of her characters twist and cross and their fortunes rise and fall, [Kim] keeps the weight of the personal and political in perfect balance. Beasts of a Little Land is epic in range but intimate in emotional depth, sure to appeal to readers of historical fiction who prize a well-wrought character." - BookPage

"Some people say that all stories are about either love or war. Set against the backdrop of early 20th-century Korea, Kim's epic debut novel is about both." - Harper's Bazaar, a Best Book of 2021

"Would you believe I read this 400-page epic story about war and love across decades of South Korea's history in a single sitting? A debut novel that opens with a tiger encounter in the snowy mountains, it's a twist on historical fiction that roars with life." - Entertainment Weekly, "Must List"

"[A] dreamy, intense debut.... The prose is ravishing and Kim demonstrates remarkable control of a complicated narrative. Even those with little knowledge of Korean history will come away struck by the way individuals shape and are shaped by the political and cultural changes of the first half of the 20th century." - Publishers Weekly

"For fans of far-reaching epic sagas that pinpoint human experience, readers will relish the narrative that chronicles the lives of the characters from childhood through old age, reminding us that although different, our lives are all connected by our fears, hopes and the quest for steadfast love." - Book Trib

"In Juhea Kim's debut novel, the land may be small but the scope is immense, as in a grand Russian novel complete with battlefields, intergenerational legacies and snarled love affairs... Everyone is extraordinary, a singular beast in exceptional times, and in Kim's capable hands this liberty pays off....Beasts of a Little Land is a stunning achievement. Juhea Kim wrestles with the chaos of a half-century of love, idealism, war and violence, and does so with courage and wisdom." - TLS

"Captivating.... The times the characters must survive are often violent and harsh, but they maintain a surprising tenderheartedness, along with a deep need for love and purpose. Readers should expect to be swept along themselves by the waves of passion and tragedy that make the novel so appealing." - Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"[A] rich sweep of a story [s]et during the decades of Japan's brutal takeover of Korea... 'People are brave in different ways, ' affirms Jade's lifelong admirer JungHo, a sentiment that infuses the book." - Christian Science Monitor

"Kim's debut novel wondrously reveals broken families and surprising alliances created by uncontrollable circumstances.... [A] richly alluring and significant first novel." - Booklist (starred review)

"Jade is a courtesan, sold into the trade by her family when starvation is the only other option for her. JungHo is a beggar on the streets of Seoul. Together, they are the compelling protagonists of an exciting debut that takes us through a vast arc of 20th-century Korean history, lending an achingly human lens to sweeping historic events that still reverberate today." - Globe and Mail (Toronto)

"In Beasts of a Little Land, Juhea Kim has created a magical, intricate and compelling world in which readers will be enchanted and swept away by unforgettable journeys of survival, hope, and love. This is historical fiction at its very best!" - Nguy?n Phan Qu? Mai, internationally best-selling author of The Mountains Sing

"Unrequited love, class warfare, scandal...this novel has it all." - Real Simple, a Best Book of 2021

"Kim delivers one of the dazzling debuts of the year with this epic story." - E! Online

"With marvelous prose and immersive storytelling, "Beasts of a Little Land" shows that Juhea Kim is an author to watch. You won't be able to put this book down." - Apartment Therapy

"You wouldn't know from reading it that "Beasts of a Little Land" is Kim's debut novel. There is no shortage of ambition on display here, and fleet-footed narrative pacing to match it.... A book written with warmth [and] wisdom." - USA Today

"A potent and immersive reading experience, alive to the particulars of its place and time. Intimate but politically resonant, it's perfect for fans of Min Jin Lee and Isabelle Allende." - Chicago Review of Books

"Absorbing, sweeping.... Throughout the novel, observations about world politics remind readers of that greater history.... Complex and interesting characters." - Los Angeles Times

"Gorgeous.... This transporting and elegant tale of complicated characters whose lives intertwine during the Korean independence movement of the early twentieth century is not to be missed." - Departures

"In Beasts of a Little Land, Juhea Kim has taken the concept of inyeon--human thread--to weave a beautiful story in which human connections and encounters are preordained. She explores the ideas of fate, fortune, and destiny against the backdrop of the great turbulence and historic events that transpired on the Korean peninsula during the twentieth century. A spectacular debut filled with great characters and heart." - Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

"Beautiful.... The writing has a dreamlike quality that immerses the reader in a fascinating world..... Not only is this a gorgeously written story, but Kim also gives us insight into a historical period with which many Westerners will be unfamiliar." - Historical Novels Review, Editor's Choice

"Juhea Kim's sweeping debut is pure reading pleasure. Rapturous, ravishing, and gorgeously rendered, Beasts of a Little Land is a portal to a whole world teeming with life, so full of wonders I wanted it never to end." - Catherine Chung, author of The Tenth Muse

"An epic novel brings complex 20th-century Korean history to life.... Extraordinary.... Gorgeous prose and unforgettable characters combine to make a literary masterpiece." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Beasts of a Little Land is an emotional, raw, and moving novel about friendship and the struggle for Korean independence. It is a novel unlike anything I've read. Most importantly, though, it is a novel about love. Juhea Kim writes beautifully in a way that makes it difficult to put this novel down. I loved it." - Brandon Hobson, National Book Award finalist and author of The Removed

"Powerful, romantic and wholly unforgettable." - Ms., a Best Book of 2021

"Beasts of a Little Land is as much a story of love--requited, unrequited, imperfect, fleeting, dogged, romantic, platonic, familial--and the knocks of time on our bodies and spirits as it is about a moment in history for one country struggling against colonialism." - Portland Monthly

"Elegant and wise, lush and immersive, Beasts of a Little Land is Tolstoyan in its sweep and ambition as it brings to life the Korean struggle against Japanese occupation and the making of a modern nation in the first half of the 20th century. Juhea Kim is a conjurer of rare ability whose magnificent debut utterly enchants." - Keija Parssinen, author of The Unraveling of Mercy Louis

"Beasts of a Little Land is a stunning chronicle of the Korean peninsula during the tumultuous decades leading to independence and partition. Told through the lives of a rich cast of characters--courtesans, Japanese generals, and revolutionaries--whose stories intertwine in the most unexpected ways, it is by turns political and sensual, epic and intimate. It is also a profound meditation on place; Kim evokes the urban and natural landscapes of Korea with transporting beauty. This novel will devastate you and then still you with its wise meditations on love and loss. I couldn't put it down." - Alexis Schaitkin, author of Saint X