{"product_id":"the-liberators-isbn-9781959030157","title":"The Liberators","description":"\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2024 NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFinalist for the 2024 Washington State Book Award and the 2025 PNBA Book Award\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Spare, beautiful and richly layered, The Liberators is dazzling.”\u003cbr\u003e―Tayari Jones, author of \u003ci\u003eAn American Marriage\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A piercing, patient debut by one of our finest chroniclers of American han. You won't know what hit you until the final, perfect image.”\u003cbr\u003e―Ed Park, author of \u003ci\u003eSame Bed Different Dreams\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eDaejeon, South Korea. 1980. At twenty-four, Insuk falls in love with her college classmate, Sungho, and with her father’s blessing, they marry. But then, as the military dictatorship, martial law, and nationwide protests bring the country precariously to the edge, Insuk’s father disappears.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the wake of his disappearance, Insuk flees to California with Sungho, their son Henry, and Sungho’s overbearing mother. Adrift in a new country, Insuk grieves the loss of her past and divided homeland, only to find herself drawn into an illicit affair that sets into motion dramatic events that will echo for generations to come.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpanning two continents and four generations, E. J. Koh’s debut novel exquisitely captures two Korean families forever changed by fateful decisions made in love and war. Extraordinarily beautiful and deeply moving, \u003ci\u003eThe Liberators\u003c\/i\u003e is an elegantly wrought family saga of memory, trauma, and empathy, and a stunning testament to the consequences and fortunes of inheritance.\"Lyrical. . . . Kaleidoscopic. . . . explores how the past travels with us, and how we may find solace amid loss through relationships with others.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Los Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Beautiful. . . . it captures the very real whiplash of experience and emotion that comes with being human.\"—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSeattle Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A moving and lyrical debut novel. . . . Koh has fully harnessed her potential in this assured outing.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, Starred Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A mesmerizing, delicately crafted novel . . . .  Koh’s poetic prose delights with surprising metaphors and a cast of skillfully rendered characters.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e, Starred Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Breaks new ground in understanding the Korean diaspora and the emancipating power of love.\"—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePoets \u0026amp; Writers\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"As always, Koh’s singular grasp of language results in achingly beautiful writing.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e, A Best Book of Fall\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Kaleidoscopic. . . . exquisite. . . . A family saga which manages to infuse the historical with the mythic, blend the epic with the intimate. . . . extraordinary.\"—\u003cb\u003eLit Hub\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A soaring multigenerational saga about learning to accept the past without letting it overshadow the future.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeward\u003c\/i\u003e, Starred Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eK\"nown for her poetic language, Koh is a master at weaving stories together, drawing tales of history and contemporary experiences into conversation to help us better understand who we are as humans.\"—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSeattle Magazine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Richly multi-layered. . . . Koh’s work should resonate strongly with its focus on the desire of wanting to be seen and to belong.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Weaves personal narratives with historical events for a captivating, moving result.\"—\u003cb\u003eAlta\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Koh produces another Intricately accomplished, intimate melding of history and storytelling.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Another resounding triumph for E.J. Koh: a brave exploration of the complexities of the human experience and the impossible task of making peace with the past.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBook Page\u003c\/i\u003e, Starred Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A pleasure. . . . Koh’s writing has a natural elegance. . . . She cleverly and aptly captures a character's essence with minimal description.\"—\u003cb\u003eBookbrowse\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A poetic portrayal of the Korean diaspora in the U.S.. . . .\u003ci\u003eThe Liberators\u003c\/i\u003e marks Koh as possibly the greatest chronicler of American han and as one of the most promising writers today as someone that has exhibited mastery across several genres.\" —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAdroit Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Riveting. . . . seamlessly blends the personal with the political.\"—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Hudson Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Spare, beautiful and richly layered, \u003ci\u003eThe Liberators\u003c\/i\u003e is dazzling.\" —\u003cb\u003eTayari Jones, author of \u003ci\u003eAn American Marriage\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"E. J. Koh’s \u003ci\u003eThe Liberators\u003c\/i\u003e is a sublime achievement for its deft political and emotional intelligence, its fine-tuned grasp of how a divided country divides lives through the generations. As in all great works of art, it uses the earthbound to transport us to a realm that feels like it’s been unperceived until now. As readers, we enter a theater of raw perception. A tree falls out of nowhere, a boar walks into a room unannounced, shadows shatter across a ceiling. Illumination can happen at any turn, reminding us that there’s always more world than we've had the capacity to see.\" —\u003cb\u003ePaul Lisicky, author of \u003ci\u003eLater: My Life at the Edge of the World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"E. J. Koh brings a poet’s eye and sensibility to this remarkable novel. Here you will find characters and sentences that will leave you gasping for more. \u003ci\u003eThe Liberators\u003c\/i\u003e captures grief and paranoia and a legacy of colonialism and violence with beauty and measure and grace.\" —\u003cb\u003eMatthew Salesses, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Sense of Wonder\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The beauty, intensity, and breadth of E. J. Koh’s work continues to transcend to new levels. Her language is transformative, making history more alive than we can feel and understand alone. Here is a chorus of lives and a song of peace. With \u003ci\u003eThe Liberators\u003c\/i\u003e, Koh cements her place as one of the greatest Korean American writers of our time.\" —\u003cb\u003eJoseph Han, author of \u003ci\u003eNuclear Family\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An elegiac, ferocious, and deeply stirring novel. E. J. Koh melds image and story together precisely, holding up to light the history and making of Korea. I loved \u003ci\u003eThe Liberators\u003c\/i\u003e not only for what it shows us about our world, but moreso, ourselves.\" —\u003cb\u003eCrystal Hana Kim, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Stone Home\u003c\/i\u003e and\u003ci\u003e If You Leave Me\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"E. J. Koh brings her elegant poet's hand to this intimate and expansive mythic novel of four generations of a family suffering sudden absences and war, seeking love and connection, weighted with the complexities of no easy answers. I didn't want this book to end.\"—\u003cb\u003eJimin Han, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Apology\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"E. J. Koh's poetic voice lends itself beautifully to the aching slowness of the search for healing. This book is about intergenerational trauma but it is also a celebration of intergenerational hope. Koh tackles history and sorrow with a delicate hand.\"—\u003cb\u003eRowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Sleep Watcher\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eStarling Days\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"The Liberators\u003c\/i\u003e is a poetic breath, the language as haunting and epic as its story of a divided country's legacy and impact on the Korean diaspora. I'll read anything that E. J. Koh writes.\" —\u003cb\u003eKrys Lee, author of \u003ci\u003eHow I Became a North Korean\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A piercing, patient debut by one of our finest chroniclers of American han. You won't know what hit you until the final, perfect image.\"—\u003cb\u003eEd Park, author of \u003ci\u003eSame Bed Different Dreams\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"As readers of E. J. Koh's \u003ci\u003eThe Liberators\u003c\/i\u003e we're asked to occupy the boundaries of a divided country, the world of two colonizers, and a family's eventual journey to America where the demarcation lines shift to the palm of one's hand, in the heart and life lines, where the words for love and survival are spelled out in the hand, where Koh's lyrical narrative hand is held over our hearts in undying allegiance.\" —\u003cb\u003eShawn Wong, author of\u003ci\u003e American Knees\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eE. J. Koh\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Magical Language of Others\u003c\/i\u003e, which won a Washington State Book Award, Pacific Northwest Book Award, and Association for Asian American Studies Book Award, and was longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award. Koh is also the author of the poetry collection \u003ci\u003eA Lesser Love\u003c\/i\u003e, a Pleiades Press Editors Prize for Poetry winner. Koh’s work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eAGNI\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eAtlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBoston Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePoetry\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWorld Literature Today\u003c\/i\u003e, and elsewhere. Koh earned her MFA at Columbia University and her PhD at the University of Washington, and has received National Endowment for the Arts and MacDowell fellowships. She lives in Seattle, Washington.","brand":"Tin House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233699803365,"sku":"NP9781959030157","price":27.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781959030157.jpg?v=1767740221","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-liberators-isbn-9781959030157","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}