book cover of Lemon
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Lemon

(2021)
A novel by

 
 
New York Times Book Review: Editor’s Choice 
Philadelphia Inquirer: Best Book of the Month  
World Literature Today: Notable Translation of the Year  
CrimeReads: Best International Crime Novel of the Year
Ms. Magazine
: Most Anticipated Book of the Year 
Washington Independent Review of Books: Favorite Book of the Year  


Parasite
meets The Good Son in this piercing psychological portrait of three women haunted by a brutal, unsolved crime.
 

In the summer of 2002, when Korea is abuzz over hosting the FIFA World Cup, eighteen-year-old Kim Hae-on is killed in what becomes known as the High School Beauty Murder. Two suspects quickly emerge: rich kid Shin Jeongjun, whose car Hae-on was last seen in, and delivery boy Han Manu, who witnessed her there just a few hours before her death. But when Jeongjun’s alibi checks out, and no evidence can be pinned on Manu, the case goes cold.
 
Seventeen years pass without any resolution for those close to Hae-on, and the grief and uncertainty take a cruel toll on her younger sister, Da-on, in particular. Unable to move on with her life, Da-on tries in her own twisted way to recover some of what she’s lost, ultimately setting out to find the truth of what happened. 
 
Shifting between the perspectives of Da-on and two of Hae-on’s classmates struck in different ways by her otherworldly beauty, Lemon ostensibly takes the shape of a crime novel. But identifying the perpetrator is not the main objective here: Kwon Yeo-sun uses this well-worn form to craft a searing, timely exploration of privilege, jealousy, trauma, and how we live with the wrongs we have endured and inflicted in turn.



Genre: Mystery

Praise for this book

"Charming, beguiling, and unique ... Lemon, like a great painting, makes you see the world differently." - Patrick Hoffman

"A confounding masterpiece ... One of the most profound page-turners you will ever encounter." - Matthew Salesses

"With taut, steely prose, Kwon burrows into the details surrounding the shocking murder of a beautiful girl. Though Lemon takes the form of a mystery and there’s psychological suspense that will grip you all the way to the end, it isn’t just a whodunnit. Hidden on every page are explorations of grief and guilt, how one should go on after a tragedy. It jolts with its brilliance and tartness. It’s simply electric." - Kyung-Sook Shin


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