This Burns My Heart
A Novel
On the eve of her marriage, beautiful and strong-willed Soo-Ja Choi receives a passionate proposal from a young medical student. But caught up in her desire to pursue a career in Seoul, she turns him away, having impetuously chosen another man who she believes will let her fulfill her dreams. Instead, she finds herself tightly bound by tradition and trapped in a suffocating marriage, her ambition reduced to carving out a successful future for her only daughter. Through it all, she longs for the man she truly loves, whose path she seems destined to cross again and again. In This Burns My Heart, Samuel Parks has crafted a transcendent love story that vibrantly captures 1960s South Korea and brings to life an unforgettable heroine.
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Buy from us:
- Simon & Schuster |
- 336 pages |
- ISBN 9781439199626 |
- March 2012
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Praise
“An incredible read . . . I don’t want it to end. I love it! ”
– Hoda Kotb, Today
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“An incredible read . . . I don’t want it to end. I love it! ”– Hoda Kotb, Today
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“Extraordinary . . . A page-turner of a book . . . South Korea provides not only the backdrop of Soo-Ja’s story, but also the context for Park’s novel, which spans the decades after the Korean War to the beginning of the country’s economic boom. In a sense, Soo-Ja’s story parallels South Korea’s development from a poor, struggling state to a gleaming Asian tiger. ”– Chicago Tribune
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“Memorable . . . Atmospheric and exuberantly filmic . . . a simple but visceral romance in a refreshing Korean setting. ”– The Miami Herald
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“Park does a good job of bringing the rapidly changing South Korea of the 1960s alive. As cities sprout from beanfields and rickshaws give way to Kias, the world around Soo-Ja and her family is changing at a frightening speed. . . . I especially recommend this novel to readers who were intrigued (as was I) by Lisa See’s Dreams of Joy, set in postwar China. The contrast is fascinating. ”– The Christian Science Monitor
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“This Burns My Heart is quietly stunning--a soft, fierce story that lingers in the mind. Samuel Park is a deft and elegant writer; this is a very exciting debut. ”– Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife
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“Vivid…atmospheric . . . Park’s descriptions of antigovernment clashes and the martyrdom of a 12-year-old boy, in particular, provide eerily prescient reverberations of recent clashes in Syria. ”– Boston Globe
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“Writing prose with the beauty of poetry, Samuel Park traces a young woman's journey to hard-won maturity, alongside the meteoric rise of post-war Korea, in a novel which shines with eloquence and wisdom. ”– David Henry Hwang, Tony-Award winning author of M. Butterfly
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“This Burns My Heart is a delicate yet powerful story of love, loss, and endurance. The emotional world of the heroine, Soo-Ja, is beautifully realized; I found myself caught up in her dramas from start to finish. ”– Sarah Waters, author of The Little Stranger and Fingersmith
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“Park does a good job of bringing the rapidly changing South Korea of the 1960s alive. As cities sprout from beanfields and rickshaws give way to Kias, the world around Soo-Ja and her family is changing at a frightening speed. . . . I especially recommend this novel to readers who were intrigued (as was I) by Lisa See’s Dreams of Joy, set in postwar China. The contrast is fascinating. ”– The Christian Science Monitor
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“An understatedly brilliant tale . . . Through Soo-Ja’s eyes, Park beautifully evokes 1960s war-torn South Korea. ”– Audrey Magazine
Read an Excerpt
“You tricked me,” she says, lying over a silk mat on the gold-colored floor, her husband next to her. In the dark, her words float above her, not really doing anything, without the punch and bite they have during the day. They hang there like fragments cast off from a comet, lingering over their bodies before lying down to rest.
When I could be with my father, my brothers, and waiting for my future.
She asks for closeness, for a man who pecks her on the cheek for no good reason as she walks by, or whose arm—warm, solid—is always there next to her own, his hands quick to reach for the small of her... see more
See a Sample
Excerpt 1 of 1
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Book Reviews
Reading Group Guide
This reading group guide for This Burns My Heart includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Samuel Park. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
INTRODUCTION
Set in South Korea during the 1960s, This Burns My Heart centers around Soo-Ja, an ambitious young woman who finds herself trapped in an unhappy, controlling marriage. She struggles to give her daughter a better life and to overcome the oppression of her husband, while pining for the man she truly loves. Ultimately, she must make her own way in a society caught between tradition and modernity.
TOPICS & QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
INTRODUCTION
Set in South Korea during the 1960s, This Burns My Heart centers around Soo-Ja, an ambitious young woman who finds herself trapped in an unhappy, controlling marriage. She struggles to give her daughter a better life and to overcome the oppression of her husband, while pining for the man she truly loves. Ultimately, she must make her own way in a society caught between tradition and modernity.
TOPICS & QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
- Early in their courtship, Soo-Ja thinks of Min as weak: “But what she realized was that she wouldn’t mind that—being the strong one. She’d like to swoop in and care for Min, who seemed like such a lost soul sometimes… He was the opposite of Yul, who seemed to need nothing and no one.” (p. 51-52) Is Soo-Ja’s perception accurate? Does Min change throughout the book, or has he just masked himself during their courtship? Is Soo-Ja naïve to want such an unbalanced (and untraditional) relationship?
- Soo
Video
This Burns My Heart
The story of young woman in South Korea in the 1960s who is asked to make an irredeemable choice that changes her life completely when she makes the wrong one.
This Burns My Heart
