Jung Yun was born in South Korea, raised in North Dakota, and has lived in New York, Pennsylvania, and most recently Massachusetts, where she currently resides. Her short fiction has appeared in Tin House and The Massachusetts Review, and her first novel, Shelter, will be published by Picador in March of 2016.
Honey in the Wound (2026) Jiyoung Han "A spellbinding epic that captures the resilience and spirit of Jiyoung Han's unforgettably drawn characters. I'll be thinking about this powerful debut for many years to come."
Bog Queen (2025) Anna North "A lightning strike of a novel by a visionary storyteller. Bog Queen is an earthly meditation; a page-turning mystery; and a tale of power, profit, and dominion as old as time. Anna North is simply brilliant."
Something Close to Nothing (2024) Tom Pyun "An engaging, globetrotting debut that captures the many highs and lows of creating the family of one's dreams. Full of warmth, insight, and attention to complicated truths."
The Apology (2023) Jimin Han "The Apology is a vividly rendered novel about the long life spans of secrets, featuring an unforgettable 105-year-old narrator who is as stubborn and proud as she is spirited. With depth, emotion, and total clarity of vision, Jimin Han has crafted a wonderfully moving story about love and loss, betrayal and forgiveness, and the lengths that one woman will go to in this world and the next to undo the mistakes of the past."
When We Were Bright and Beautiful (2022) Jillian Medoff "Jillian Medoff's latest novel is an intricately crafted page turner with characters so flawed and fascinating, there's absolutely no looking away from them. Smart, challenging, and deeply unsettling, WHEN WE WERE BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL will test your assumptions about guilt and innocence, and subvert your expectations until the very end."
The Force of Such Beauty (2022) Barbara Bourland "In THE FORCE OF SUCH BEAUTY, Barbara Bourland fractures the familiar tale of 'happily ever after' and reimagines it with spectacular style, vision, and substance. Her novel thoughtfully interrogates the trappings of marriage, status, womanhood, and power, while reading as vividly and compulsively as a thriller."
Say This (2022) Elise Levine "Elise Levine's brilliant Say This examines the damage inflicted by one man's life and another man's death, as experienced by the people they left behind. Intimate, provocative, and deeply unsettling in their power, these interconnected novellas showcase Levine's gift for telling stories that readers can't look away from, wrapped in prose so beautiful and precise."
Reprieve (2021) James Han Mattson "A timely, devastating story about intersecting lives drawn to a dark and frightening place. Rich with insights about our contemporary moment and characters blinded by their desire for belonging and connection, James Han Mattson’s Reprieve is the rare novel that will make your heart pound with terror while it aches with grief."
The Kinship of Secrets (2018) Eugenia Kim "What an extraordinary time to read this heartfelt novel about the bonds of family, set against the backdrop of the Korean War. Eugenia Kim is a masterful storyteller who makes her characters come to life as she spans decades, continents and cultures."
Grist Mill Road (2018) Christopher J Yates "An intricately crafted novel about adult lives forever changed by closely held childhood secrets. Grist Mill Road is a compulsive read that will unsettle you from its first page and surprise you until its very last."
