{"product_id":"city-of-night-birds-a-novel-isbn-9780063394773","title":"City of Night Birds: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"This story left me thinking about the ways we overcome setbacks and redefine what truly matters.\" - Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club December '24 Pick)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA once-famous ballerina faces a final choice—to return to the world of Russian dance that nearly broke her, or to walk away forever—in this incandescent novel of redemption and love\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn a White Night in 2019, prima ballerina Natalia Leonova returns to St. Petersburg two years after a devastating accident that stalled her career. Once the most celebrated dancer of her generation, she now turns to pills and alcohol to numb the pain of her past.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe is unmoored in her old city as the ghosts of her former life begin to resurface: her loving but difficult mother, her absentee father, and the two gifted dancers who led to her downfall.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of those dancers, Alexander, is the love of her life, who transformed both Natalia and her art. The other is Dmitri, a dark and treacherous genius. When the latter offers her a chance to return to the stage in her signature role, Natalia must decide whether she can again face the people responsible for both her soaring highs and darkest hours.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePainting a vivid portrait of the Russian ballet world, where cutthroat ambition, ever-shifting politics, and sublime artistry collide, \u003cem\u003eCity of Night Birds\u003c\/em\u003e unveils the making of a dancer with both profound intimacy and breathtaking scope. Mysterious and alluring, passionate and virtuosic, Juhea Kim’s second novel is an affecting meditation on love, forgiveness, and the making of an artist in a turbulent world.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"Kim's lyrical, cinematic writing kidnaps the senses. . . Kim's pointillistic pages merge reader, protagonist and story, yielding a literary fever dream. . . . The greatness of \u003cem\u003eCity of Night Birds\u003c\/em\u003e made this reader lament its ending, and hope for another Juhea Kim novel, and another.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Engrossing… Kim delivers all the juicy drama readers have come to expect from a ballerina’s tale… The results will likely keep dance fans ravenously turning pages. A welcome addition to the literary dance canon, \u003cem\u003eCity of Night Birds\u003c\/em\u003e is most compelling when its interpersonal dramas test the novel’s central question: whether, as one character opines, ‘Love doesn’t set \u003cem\u003eanyone\u003c\/em\u003e free. Art does.’” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Lush prose buttressed by vivid details... packed with drama, love affairs and high-stakes rivalries.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eVogue, a Best Book of 2024\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Kim's sophomore novel follows former Russian prima ballerina Natalia Leonova, who returns to her native St. Petersburg two years after a crushing injury that cut her time performing with the Paris Opera Ballet short... As Leonova attempts to get her mind and body in shape, she reflects on her unlikely rise from poverty to center stage and how hard she's fought for her craft.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHarper's Bazaar, a Best Book of 2024\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A mesmerizing page-turner.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTown \u0026amp; Country\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A gorgeously written tale... Well-researched and immersive, the book is a testament to Kim's lifelong admiration of ballet.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMs. Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Graceful...The novel is a \u003cem\u003epas de trois\u003c\/em\u003e (dance for three) starring Natalia, her partner, Alexander, and her nemesis, Dmitri…Fascinating.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDenver Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A passionate novel… Juhea Kim creates not a typical sports drama about a\u003cbr\u003ecomeback after a fall, but a novel reflection on the nature of the\u003cbr\u003ecreative gift, which simultaneously saves and cripples… The novel’s\u003cbr\u003estrength lies in its authenticity… She’s unafraid of addiction, trauma,\u003cbr\u003eand moral compromise, yet she delivers them without false pathos, with\u003cbr\u003ean almost balletic ease and grace… \u003ci\u003eCity of Night Birds \u003c\/i\u003eisn’t just about\u003cbr\u003eballet; it’s about any creative passion that demands total dedication\u003cbr\u003eand often self-destruction, and about how true art often begins where\u003cbr\u003eone’s strength seems to run out.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eForbes Russia\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Riveting. . . . Kim weaves in plot threads involving the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the tabloid press, and celebrity parties, as well as complications related to various expressions of sexual desire to show that no form of art can exist separately from the complexity of life. . . . Another brilliant page-turner from Kim . . . .Written in sumptuous prose, Kim’s novel is a feast for the senses.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eCity of Night Birds\u003c\/em\u003e is a deeply emotional portrayal of a dancer past the peak of her abilities, trying desperately to regain her sense of self after her body, her loved ones and her life’s work have let her down. . . . Utterly immersive. . . . For anyone who has ever been transfixed by the stage, \u003cem\u003eCity of Night Birds\u003c\/em\u003e is not one to miss.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBookPage\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Shimmering, seductive characters dance across the pages of \u003cem\u003eCity of Night Birds\u003c\/em\u003e, immersing you in the world of a prima ballerina fulfilling her most beautiful and terrible ambitions. In this absorbing and passionate novel, Juhea Kim writes with fierce emotional intelligence about the darkness and desire that drive art and love, asking, What does it take to live a life beyond your wildest dreams?\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMeng Jin, author of Self-Portrait with Ghost and Little Gods\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"An ecstatic künstlerroman—meticulously researched, brutally frank, and deliciously glamorous,\u003cem\u003e City of Night Birds\u003c\/em\u003e enraptures as thoroughly as the ballerina at its beating heart. The artistry possessed by this novel’s sublimely gifted heroine is rivaled only by that of her author. Brava, Juhea Kim!\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRachel Lyon, author of Fruit of the Dead and Self-Portrait with Boy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A beautifully crafted must read. \u003cem\u003eCity of Night Birds\u003c\/em\u003e is a book that lingers long after the final pages have come and gone.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJason Mott, National Book Award-winning author of Hell of a Book\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A rare jewel of a novel that shimmers with beauty, wisdom, and artistry. Propelled by a devourable plot that kept me turning the pages long after I should have been asleep, \u003cem\u003eCity of Night Birds \u003c\/em\u003eis an epic story of ambition, desire, and dance, that feels both like a novel that will be read and loved for the next one hundred years, and essential reading for right now. I could not have loved it more.\"  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCoco Mellors, New York Times bestselling author of Cleopatra and Frankenstein and Blue Sisters\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ecco","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48587988992229,"sku":"NP9780063394773","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063394773.jpg?v=1773959967","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/city-of-night-birds-a-novel-isbn-9780063394773","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}