Drifting House - Softcover

Lee, Krys

3.65

1,113 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571276180 ISBN 13: 9780571276189

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2012

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A haunting and unforgettable debut spanning the last seventy years of Korean history, including the BBC Short Story Prize shortlisted story 'The Goose Father'.

Alternating between the lives of Koreans struggling through seventy years of turbulent, post-World War Two history in their homeland and the communities of Korean immigrants grappling with assimilation in the United States, Krys Lee's haunting debut story collection Drifting House weaves together intricate tales of family and love, abandonment and loss on both sides of the Pacific.

In the title story, children escaping famine in North Korea are forced to make unthinkable sacrifices to survive. The tales set in America reveal the immigrants' unmoored existence, playing out in cramped apartments and Koreatown strip malls, from the abandoned wife in 'A Temporary Marriage' who enters into a sham marriage to find her kidnapped daughter to the makeshift family in 'At the Edge of the World' which is fractured when a shaman from the old country moves in next door.

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Review:

'Compelling reading ... there is a stark beauty to Lee s writing. Drifting House offers a poignant glimpse into lives divided by history.' Andrew Marszal, Daily Telegraph'

'If there's one thing Krys Lee knows how to do it's use history and culture as the boards and backdrop of a narrative while allowing her characters to take centre-stage ... whatever their location, each [story] contains an understanding of the sadness of history ... the two finest stories in the collection, 'Drifting House' and 'The Believer', achieve extraordinary feats within a few pages murder, madness, haunting, loss of faith and more.' Kamila Shamsie, Guardian

These are subtle, haunting stories that explore the lives of people caught between two cultures.' Nick Rennison, Sunday Times

' Powerful debut collection ... Sometimes the sadness of her characters feels so pervasive that we question why they even bother to go on. And yet they do, and perhaps that is the author's point: we struggle, we live, we persevere. We are Koreans, and we know all about suffering. By showing these authentic, everyday people at dramatic and pivotal moments, Krys Lee strips them to the core of their humanity. Her vision is a solemn one, but an important one too.' Sung J Woo, Financial Times

'What wonderful and haunting worlds Krys Lee illuminates . . . a Korea and a Korean America made new by this exciting writer s entrancing vision. --Janice Y. K. Lee, author of The Piano Teacher

'Krys Lee's fascinating stories take place in gaps in the world, the surreal places that are in fact reality for her Korean
characters, both at home and abroad. In those interstices there is horror and humor; there is sometimes haunting sadness, and there is on occasion grace.' --Jane Hamilton, author of A Map of the World and The Book of Ruth

'In this sublime debut collection spanning both Korea and America,
protagonists locked in by oppressive social forces struggle to break free in
original ways, each unexpected denouement a minor miracle or a perfect tragedy.' --Publishers Weekly

'Krys Lee's fascinating stories take place in gaps in the world, the surreal places that are in fact reality for her Korean
characters, both at home and abroad. In those interstices there is horror and humor; there is sometimes haunting sadness, and there is on occasion grace.' --Jane Hamilton, author of A Map of the World and The Book of Ruth

'In this sublime debut collection spanning both Korea and America,
protagonists locked in by oppressive social forces struggle to break free in
original ways, each unexpected denouement a minor miracle or a perfect tragedy.' --Publishers Weekly

'Krys Lee's fascinating stories take place in gaps in the world, the surreal places that are in fact reality for her Korean
characters, both at home and abroad. In those interstices there is horror and humor; there is sometimes haunting sadness, and there is on occasion grace.' --Jane Hamilton, author of A Map of the World and The Book of Ruth

'In this sublime debut collection spanning both Korea and America,
protagonists locked in by oppressive social forces struggle to break free in
original ways, each unexpected denouement a minor miracle or a perfect tragedy.' --Publishers Weekly

Book Description:

An unforgettable collection of stories of family and love, abandonment and loss from a gifted Korean-born debut author.

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