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Chang-Rae Lee Books

1 book·~10 min total read

Chang-Rae Lee is a Korean-American novelist and professor known for his explorations of identity, displacement, and the immigrant experience. He is the author of acclaimed works such as Native Speaker, A Gesture Life, Aloft, and My Year Abroad.

Known for: The Surrendered

Books by Chang-Rae Lee

The Surrendered

The Surrendered

bestsellers·10 min read

A powerful novel that follows the intertwined lives of three people scarred by the Korean War: June Han, an orphaned girl; Hector Brennan, an American soldier; and Sylvie Tanner, a missionary’s wife. Spanning decades and continents, the story explores the enduring effects of war, loss, and the search for redemption.

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1

The Orphan and the Soldier

The novel opens in 1950 Korea, in the chaos of invasion. June Han is a child who has lost everything: her parents, her siblings, the fragile security of home. She trudges south with other refugees, each step an act of defiance against oblivion. Hunger turns her world feral. When she meets Hector Bre...

From The Surrendered

2

Faith and Disillusionment at the Orphanage

At the orphanage, the war has changed its form. Hunger and fear give way to moral exhaustion. Sylvie Tanner tries to minister to the children with prayers that no longer comfort her. Her husband Ames maintains the veneer of faith, but Sylvie’s belief has cracked under years of quiet grief. She once ...

From The Surrendered

About Chang-Rae Lee

Chang-Rae Lee is a Korean-American novelist and professor known for his explorations of identity, displacement, and the immigrant experience. He is the author of acclaimed works such as Native Speaker, A Gesture Life, Aloft, and My Year Abroad.

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Chang-Rae Lee is a Korean-American novelist and professor known for his explorations of identity, displacement, and the immigrant experience. He is the author of acclaimed works such as Native Speaker, A Gesture Life, Aloft, and My Year Abroad.

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