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The Defections
Hannah Michell
€ 10.99
€ 5.70
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Description for The Defections
Paperback. Seoul, South Korea. A rebellious young woman falls for a British diplomat. But in a city of tight control, her passion will prove her downfall. Num Pages: 336 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 196 x 131 x 22. Weight in Grams: 240.
'Stunning' The Times 'Excellent' Independent on Sunday 'Compelling, haunting and thrilling' David Peace Seoul, South Korea Mia is an outsider. Half-English, half-Korean, a translator at the British Embassy; she treads a boundary between her roots and the acceptance she desires from the English - especially her boss, Thomas: a married diplomat. Thomas's career is jeopardized by an outrageous indiscretion until Mia comes to his rescue. At first grateful, his feelings are soon complicated by a commission to investigate the background of the woman who has captivated him. Hyun-min is a defector from North Korea, taken in by Mia's family. But he has a secret. One that could shatter Mia's family, her life and the fragile borders around them all.
Product Details
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2014
Publisher
riverrun
Condition
New
Number of Pages
352
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
ISBN
9781782062585
SKU
9781782062585
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 2 to 4 working days
Ref
99-2
About Hannah Michell
Hannah Michell was born in Yorkshire in 1983 and grew up in Seoul, South Korea. She studied Philosophy and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, then received an MA in Creative Writing from City University. She has worked for the Economist, Penguin Books and now lectures on Korean pop culture at the University of California, Berkeley. Her first novel, The Defections, was published in 2014.
Reviews for The Defections
Fantastic . . . The thriller element of the story moves at a belting pace
Saga
Michell reveals herself not only as a perceptive observer of character, but a writer capable of exploring big ideas . . . Damaged, flawed Mia is a compelling protagonist
Guardian
Excellent . . . Written in crisp prose, Michell's novel deftly weaves the tale of Mia's torrid romance with the political history of the Korean peninsula. But in many ways her presentation of the British expatriates is more intriguing: like the embittered colonials in the stories of Graham Greene, Michell's Brits are both arrogant and insecure
Independent on Sunday
One of the most compelling, haunting and thrilling debuts I have ever read. It is a book of betrayals and borders, real and imagined, and of deceptions and desires which beautifully and dramatically evokes the spectres of Korea's past and the divisions of its present in ways reminiscent of The Quiet American or McEwan's The Innocent'
David Peace
This stunning first novel is a fascinating portrait of a divided country, seething with prejudice and intrigue; Michell, who grew up in Seoul, takes the reader deep into the desperate, dangerous underground routes of the defectors from the North
The Times
Michell's portrait of Seoul fascinates: its dust and neon, sweat and suspicion. An impressively layered and carefully constructed novel . . . an author worth watching
Daily Mail
The author grew up in Seoul and has used her own experience as an outsider to write this fantastic first novel . . . The thriller element of the story moves at a belting pace
Saga
Michell reveals herself not only as a perceptive observer of character, but a writer capable of exploring big ideas
Guardian
One of the most compelling, haunting and thrilling debuts I have ever read. It is a book of betrayals and borders, real and imagined, and of deceptions and desires which beautifully and dramatically evokes the spectres of Korea's past and the divisions of its present in ways reminiscent of The Quiet American or McEwan's The Innocent
David Peace
This is an impressively layered and carefully constructed novel, its characters caught between languages, loyalties and worlds . . . Michell's portrait of Seoul fascinates: its dust and neon, sweat and suspicion. But what catches you by surprise is the slowly-revealed audacity of her plot as suspicions and misunderstandings escalate into an international crisis. Having already earned comparison to Ian McEwan, she's an author worth watching
Daily Mail
Excellent . . . Written in crisp prose, Michell's novel deftly weaves the tale of Mia's torrid romance with the political history of the Korean peninsula. But in many ways her presentation of the British expatriates is more intriguing: like the embittered colonials in the stories of Graham Greene, Michell's Brits are both arrogant and insecure
Independent on Sunday
This stunning first novel is a fascinating portrait of a divided country, seething with prejudice and intrigue; Michell, who grew up in Seoul, takes the reader deep into the desperate, dangerous underground routes of the defectors from the North
The Times
Saga
Michell reveals herself not only as a perceptive observer of character, but a writer capable of exploring big ideas . . . Damaged, flawed Mia is a compelling protagonist
Guardian
Excellent . . . Written in crisp prose, Michell's novel deftly weaves the tale of Mia's torrid romance with the political history of the Korean peninsula. But in many ways her presentation of the British expatriates is more intriguing: like the embittered colonials in the stories of Graham Greene, Michell's Brits are both arrogant and insecure
Independent on Sunday
One of the most compelling, haunting and thrilling debuts I have ever read. It is a book of betrayals and borders, real and imagined, and of deceptions and desires which beautifully and dramatically evokes the spectres of Korea's past and the divisions of its present in ways reminiscent of The Quiet American or McEwan's The Innocent'
David Peace
This stunning first novel is a fascinating portrait of a divided country, seething with prejudice and intrigue; Michell, who grew up in Seoul, takes the reader deep into the desperate, dangerous underground routes of the defectors from the North
The Times
Michell's portrait of Seoul fascinates: its dust and neon, sweat and suspicion. An impressively layered and carefully constructed novel . . . an author worth watching
Daily Mail
The author grew up in Seoul and has used her own experience as an outsider to write this fantastic first novel . . . The thriller element of the story moves at a belting pace
Saga
Michell reveals herself not only as a perceptive observer of character, but a writer capable of exploring big ideas
Guardian
One of the most compelling, haunting and thrilling debuts I have ever read. It is a book of betrayals and borders, real and imagined, and of deceptions and desires which beautifully and dramatically evokes the spectres of Korea's past and the divisions of its present in ways reminiscent of The Quiet American or McEwan's The Innocent
David Peace
This is an impressively layered and carefully constructed novel, its characters caught between languages, loyalties and worlds . . . Michell's portrait of Seoul fascinates: its dust and neon, sweat and suspicion. But what catches you by surprise is the slowly-revealed audacity of her plot as suspicions and misunderstandings escalate into an international crisis. Having already earned comparison to Ian McEwan, she's an author worth watching
Daily Mail
Excellent . . . Written in crisp prose, Michell's novel deftly weaves the tale of Mia's torrid romance with the political history of the Korean peninsula. But in many ways her presentation of the British expatriates is more intriguing: like the embittered colonials in the stories of Graham Greene, Michell's Brits are both arrogant and insecure
Independent on Sunday
This stunning first novel is a fascinating portrait of a divided country, seething with prejudice and intrigue; Michell, who grew up in Seoul, takes the reader deep into the desperate, dangerous underground routes of the defectors from the North
The Times