The Stone Home: A Novel

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It is a privilege to read Crystal Hana Kims fiction, which both edifies and enlightens. Min Jin Lee

A hauntingly poetic family drama and coming-of-age story that reveals a dark corner of South Korean history through the eyes of a small community living in a reformatory centera stunning work of great emotional power from the critically acclaimed author of If You Leave Me.

In 2011, Eunju Oh opens her door to greet a stranger: a young Korean American woman holding a familiar-looking knifea knife Eunju hasnt seen in thirty years, and that connects her to a place shed desperately hoped to leave behind forever.

In South Korea in the 1980s, young Eunju and her mother are homeless on the street. After being captured by the police, theyre sent to live within the walls of a state-sanctioned reformatory center that claims to rehabilitate the nations citizens but hides a darker, more violent reality. While Eunju and her mother form a tight-knit community with the other women in the kitchen, two teenage brothers, Sangchul and Youngchul, are compelled to labor in the workshops and make increasingly desperate decisionsand all are forced down a path of survival, the repercussions of which will echo for decades to come.

Inspired by real events, told through alternating timelines and two intimate perspectives, The Stone Home is a deeply affecting story of a mother and daughters love and a pair of brothers whose bond is put to an unfathomably difficult test. Capturing a shameful period of history with breathtaking restraint and tenderness, Crystal Hana Kim weaves a lyrical exploration of the legacy of violence and the complicated psychology of power, while showcasing the extraordinary acts of devotion and friendship that can arise in the darkness.

Author Bio

Crystal Hana Kim holds an MFA from Columbia University and is a contributing editor for Apogee Journal. She has received numerous awards, including PEN America's Story Prize for Emerging Writers, and fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, among others. Born and raised in New York City, she currently lives in Chicago. This is her first novel.