In this historical fiction novel, the memory of the Korean war will bring two survivors together again after 30 years, neither of them content with their present life nor their past. June was a young girl, originally in a family of seven before the war took them away before her very eyes, leaving her orphaned in a devastated land. Hector is a good-looking American G.I. who prefers the dead more than the living. The two of them will vie for the attention and love of Sylvie Binnet, also a survivor of war, traumatized by her experience in Manchuria. The book spans across China, Korea, New York, and Italy as June and Hector confront their past and the effects of war on their personalities.

The first 30 pages of the novel gripped me hard. This book is all about character development, but it thoroughly explores how war and its aftermath has affected the human psyche. Every person has a moment in their life that forms them to be who they are and Chang-rae Lee did a great job showing that in this novel. So many human emotions are expressed while the three main characters don't particularly seem animate in their actions or words. It's a very "quiet" story, yet it leaves a big impression on the nature of human endurance.

My full review is on my blog!