Broken Summer: A Novel

by J.M. Lee, Greg Chun (Read by), An Seon Jae (Translator)

Overview

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.

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781713670155
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	09/01/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 6.75(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

★ 06/27/2022

Korean painter Hanjo Lee, the protagonist of this mesmerizing novel from Lee (The Investigation), must wrestle with his haunted, long-buried past. One summer day 26 years earlier, Jisoo Jang, the daughter of a wealthy, influential neighbor of Hanjo’s family, was discovered dead in a nearby river. Jisoo’s death created shock waves that eventually ruined the lives of her family members and Hanjo’s as well. Hanjo has since married Haeri Jang, Jisoo’s younger sister. On Hanjo’s 43rd birthday, Haeri vanishes, leaving behind a scathing, soon-to-be-published novel about an artist of dubious morals whose career closely resembles Hanjo’s own. Haeri’s disappearance prompts Hanjo to try to find out exactly what happened that summer day. Lee excels at psychological realism, and Hanjo’s quest to learn the truth feels naturally driven by deep, painful emotions. The pace never feels forced, and Lee does a masterly job of selecting the telling detail. Haeri’s body, for instance, is covered by self-inflicted scars. This exquisite portrait of minds torn apart by mourning will appeal not just to mystery readers. Agent: Barbara Zitwer, Barbara Zitwer Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Broken Summer

“Few things are as mysterious as what goes on in a marriage, sometimes even one’s own…[in] J.M. Lee’s emotionally wrenching Broken Summer.” —New York Times

“Skillfully rendered into English by translator An, the novel contemplates these issues in a murder mystery notable for its nuanced storytelling…A subtle psychological thriller.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Lee excels at psychological realism, and Hanjo’s quest to learn the truth feels naturally driven by deep, painful emotions…This exquisite portrait of minds torn apart by mourning will appeal not just to mystery readers.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“This is an engrossing and beautifully written mystery, with complex characters that Lee delicately strips bare.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“This book is more about self-deception, self-absorption, and the unspoken truths that can both prop up and destroy a marriage than it is a conventional murder mystery…Quiet but devastating.” —New York Times

“Peeling back layers with utmost precision, Lee bares a portrait of an artist as a desperately troubled young man; even more admirable are the masterful manipulations necessary for such decimating exposure.” —Booklist

“Broken Summer is an elegiac thriller, a vivid family portrait, a study of guilt, deception and revenge across class divides, and the gifted JM Lee’s most accomplished novel to date.” —David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas and Utopia Avenue

Praise for J.M. Lee

“Channeling timeless quests from The Odyssey on while highly reminiscent of Vikas Swarup’s contemporary cult classic Q & A (the literary inspiration for celluloid sensation Slumdog Millionaire), Lee’s latest should guarantee exponential growth among savvy Western audiences searching for a universal story with global connections. In a phrase, read this.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“Another outstanding thriller from Lee (after The Investigation, 2015), whose novels have garnered massive acclaim in Korea.” —Booklist

“Lee’s novel touches on the literary need for character-driven stories that move beyond the strangeness and horror of life under the North Korean state. This, along with its thriller-like pace, make The Boy Who Escaped Paradise worth a read.” —Paste

“A smart, riveting read.” —Publishers Weekly

“The language is mesmerizing. An exciting adventure added to rich characters, all multiplied by stunning language, equals an unforgettable novel.” —Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

★ 07/29/2022

Award-winning Korean author of suspense and thriller novels Lee (The Boy Who Escaped Paradise; The Investigation) writes his latest in multiple voices. Lee Hanjo enjoys his quiet, successful life as one of Korea's most sought-after painters. Now living in a large home that he coveted growing up, Hanjo and his wife Soojin live a life structured around his painting. The morning after his 43rd birthday, Hanjo wakes to discover his adoring and devoted wife has disappeared. It is clear that she was not abducted—she has left, seemingly without reason. Hanjo looks for clues to her disappearance and begins to questions whether he has ever really understood his wife. When he reads Soojin's soon-to-be-published novel, he suddenly gains more clarity into his wife's life and outlook and begins to dread what she will unleash on his carefully crafted reputation. Soojin's book dredges up events from the murder of a wealthy, lovely young girl 26 years ago and forces Hanjo to question not only what happened but his own culpability in the murder. VERDICT This is an engrossing and beautifully written mystery, with complex characters that Lee delicately strips bare.—Jen Funk

Library Journal

2022-07-13
A woman writes a damning novel about a character who closely resembles her husband, forcing him to face his culpability in a decades-old death.

What is the statute of limitations on betrayal? How long can a secret be buried before it turns into an earthquake? And will revealing the truth—that slippery concept—provide resolution or peace? Skillfully rendered into English by translator An, the novel contemplates these issues in a murder mystery notable for its nuanced storytelling. Lee Hanjo is a renowned artist whose heretofore-devoted wife decamps from their home the night of his 43rd birthday, leaving behind a copy of a forthcoming book she has written without his knowledge. Her “autobiographical fiction,” Your Lies About Me, is about a disreputable character who resembles Hanjo, and it upends his foundational suppositions about his childhood, marriage, and artistic abilities, reflecting the precarious nature of what people take, and make, to be true. “Some kinds of love have the power to reconstruct the past, the ability to restore a broken life,” Lee writes, and in this novel, some kinds of love also have the power to destroy every aspect of what one imagines one’s identity, and life, to be. The introduction of each new angle of Jang Jisoo’s death more than 20 summers ago both adds to our knowledge and blurs the exact truth of what occurred. The abstract art world in which Hanjo’s success fluctuates is equally a metaphor for how closely we examine or understand what isn’t concretely factual in “an era when images define reality.” Though relatively new to English-speaking audiences, Lee has sold millions of books in Korea, with adaptations into television series.

A subtle psychological thriller.

Kirkus Reviews