Korean Authors

Yeongju is burned out. With her high-­flying career, demanding marriage, and busy life in Seoul, she knows she should feel successful, but all she feels is drained. Yet an abandoned dream nags at her, and in a leap of faith, she leaves her old life behind. Quitting her job and divorcing her husband, Yeongju moves to a small residential neighborhood outside the city, where she opens the Hyunam-dong Bookshop.

Baek Sehee is a successful young social media director at a publishing house when she begins seeing a psychiatrist about her—what to call it?—depression? She feels persistently low, anxious, endlessly self-doubting, but also highly judgemental of others. She hides her feelings well at work and with friends, performing the calmness her lifestyle demands. The effort is exhausting, overwhelming and keeps her from forming deep relationships. This can't be normal. But if she's so hopeless, why can she always summon a yen for her favourite street food: the spicy rice cake, tteokbokki?

THE STORY THEY COULDN'T HACK: In this international bestseller, a high-ranking counterintelligence agent describes his life as a former poet laureate to Kim Jong-il and his breathtaking escape to freedom. As North Korea’s State Poet Laureate, Jang Jin-sung led a charmed life. With food...

In 1948, Najin and Calvin Cho, with their young daughter Miran, travel from South Korea to the United States in search of new opportunities. Wary of the challenges they know will face them, Najin and Calvin make the difficult decision to leave their other daughter, Inja, behind with their extended family; soon, they hope, they will return to her. But then war breaks out in Korea, and there is no end in sight to the separation. Miran grows up in prosperous American suburbia as Inja grapples in her war-torn land with ties to a family she doesn't remember.

One of the New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st Century In this New York Times bestseller, four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan–the inspiration for the television series on Apple TV+. In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja...

From the New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers, a chronicle of the extraordinary feats of heroism by Marines called on to do the impossible during the greatest battle of the Korean War. "Superb ... A masterpiece of thorough research, deft pacing and arresting...

Perfect for fans of the Storm Runner and Aru Shah series, this “intriguing, fast-paced” (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade fantasy follows a young girl who must venture to the undersea kingdom of the Dragon King in Korea to save her parents from an evil diviner spirit. Twelve-year old Lia Park...

ONE OF THE ATLANTIC’S GREAT AMERICAN NOVELS OF THE PAST 100 YEARS The debut novel from critically acclaimed and New York Times–bestselling author of My Year Abroad and the highly anticipated A Tender Age In Native Speaker, author Chang-rae Lee introduces readers to Henry Park. Park has spent...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE An all-encompassing, whirlwind romance that’s “beautifully crafted” (People) and “full of intelligence, understanding and hope” (Los Angeles Times) ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The...

A million-plus-copy best seller in Korea—a magnificent English-language debut poised to become an international sensation—this is the stunning, deeply moving story of a family’s search for their mother, who goes missing one afternoon amid the crowds of the Seoul Station subway. Told...

WINNER OF THE NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER OF THE ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR CHILDREN'S LITERATURE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A PARADE BEST KIDS BOOK OF ALL TIME A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST MIDDLE GRADE BOOK OF THE CENTURY Would you make a deal with a magical tiger? This uplifting...

From the New York Times bestselling author of Pachinko, a "mesmerizing" novel about the Korean-American daughter of first-generation immigrants striving to join Manhattan's inner circle (USA Today). Casey Han is a strong-willed, Queens-bred daughter of Korean immigrants immersed in a glamorous...

This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster. One of the monsters is me. Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his...

WINNER OF THE PEN/ROBERT W. BINGHAM PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE STORY PRIZE The breathtaking debut of an important new voice—centered on a constellation of Korean American families “To encounter these achingly truthful, beautiful stories of newcomer Americans is like gazing up at the...

“I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea.” —Yeonmi Park “One of the most harrowing stories I have ever heard—and one of the most inspiring.” —The Bookseller In In Order to Live, Yeonmi Park shines a light not just into...

North Korea's deadliest weapon is sleeper agent Song Sun Young. Married with children and living the good life in New York City, she has waited seven years to activate the mission she was trained to do: infiltrate America's financial infrastructure. She prays the call from her handlers will never come, because she loves her husband and kids and affluent New York lifestyle. But the call does come. During volatile negotiations between the White House and Pyongyang, Song is hurled back into a reality she had hoped to leave behind forever.

In this charmingly chaotic follow-up to A Magical Girl Retires, our favorite millennial-turned-magical girl begrudgingly returns to the workforce to fight crime and the forces of evil. Our protagonist from A Magical Girl Retires is done with the magical girl life . . . but the magical girl life...

Ruthless. Meticulous. Arrogant. Dante Russo thrives on control, both personally and professionally. The billionaire CEO never planned to marry—until the threat of blackmail forces him into an engagement with a woman he barely knows.

A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Riveting and unconventional, The Last Story of Mina Lee traces the far-reaching consequences of secrets in the lives of a Korean immigrant mother and her daughter Margot Lee's mother is ignoring her calls. Margot can’t understand why...

After a staged terrorist attack kills the President and most of Congress, the government is deposed and taken over by the oppressive and all-controlling Republic of Gilead. Offred is a Handmaid serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name.