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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher |
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THE EVENING HERO
A sweeping new novel from acclaimed writer Marie Myung-Ok Lee about a Korean immigrant who escaped a war to pursue the so-called American dream and who receives a series of letters revealing a secret that brings the life he built into peril.
Dr. Yungman Kwak, whose name translates to "Evening Hero" in Korean, is in the twilight of his life. Every day for the last fifty years, he has brushed his teeth, slipped on his shoes, and headed to Horse Breath's General Hospital, where, as an obstetrician, he treats the women and babies of the small rural Minnesota town he chose to call home. This was the life he longed for, the so-called American Dream. He immigrated from Korea to the United States near the end of the Korean War, leaving his family, his ancestors, his village, and traditions behind. But his life is built on a lie. And one day, a letter arrives that threatens to expose it.
Yungman's life is thrown into chaos. The hospital abruptly closes, leaving him without a job; his wife is doing anything but spending time with him; his son is busy investing in a struggling health start-up. Yungman must choose: should he scramble to hide his secret from his friends and family, and stay the course? Or confess, and pursue a path? As he grapples with his decision, he begins to question the very assumptions on which his life is built - the so-called American Dream, with the abject failure of its healthcare system, patients and neighbors who perpetuate racism, a town with a flawed infrastructure, and a history that doesn't see him in it. When he gets the opportunity to travel back to Korea, Yungman seeks for an answer to his reckoning.
Toggling between the past and present, America and Korea, The Evening Hero is a sweeping, moving, and darkly comic novel about a man looking back at his life and asking big questions about what is lost and what is gained when immigrants leave home for new shores.
Marie Myung-OK Lee's stories have received numerous honors including an O.Henry honorable mention. Her stories and essays have been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, The Guardian, and numerous other publications. She has also served as a judge for the National Book Award and PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. She has taught fiction writing at Yale University, was a Visiting Lecturer in American Studies at her alma mater Brown University, and is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University.
Yungman's life is thrown into chaos. The hospital abruptly closes, leaving him without a job; his wife is doing anything but spending time with him; his son is busy investing in a struggling health start-up. Yungman must choose: should he scramble to hide his secret from his friends and family, and stay the course? Or confess, and pursue a path? As he grapples with his decision, he begins to question the very assumptions on which his life is built - the so-called American Dream, with the abject failure of its healthcare system, patients and neighbors who perpetuate racism, a town with a flawed infrastructure, and a history that doesn't see him in it. When he gets the opportunity to travel back to Korea, Yungman seeks for an answer to his reckoning.
Toggling between the past and present, America and Korea, The Evening Hero is a sweeping, moving, and darkly comic novel about a man looking back at his life and asking big questions about what is lost and what is gained when immigrants leave home for new shores.
Marie Myung-OK Lee's stories have received numerous honors including an O.Henry honorable mention. Her stories and essays have been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, The Guardian, and numerous other publications. She has also served as a judge for the National Book Award and PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. She has taught fiction writing at Yale University, was a Visiting Lecturer in American Studies at her alma mater Brown University, and is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University.
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Book
Published 2022-05-24 by Simon & Schuster |