The Defections

Michell, Hannah

ISBN 10: 1782062556 / ISBN 13: 9781782062554

Editore: Quercus, 2014

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Dati bibliografici

Titolo: The Defections

Casa editrice: Quercus

Data di pubblicazione: 2014

Legatura: Hardcover

Condizione: Used; Very Good

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto:

Seoul, South Korea. Mia is an outsider. The child of an English mother, she defies the rigid expectations of her Korean stepmother to work as a translator at the British Embassy. Her uncle runs a charitable - and controversial - school for North Korean defectors, and prevails upon Mia's stepmother to shelter a traumatised young student. Mia is too preoccupied to note the defector's strange behaviour - or its implications. She has become infatuated with Thomas, a diplomat with a self-destructive streak. When an outrageous indiscretion endangers his position, it is Mia who saves him from humiliation and rescues his career. And the boundaries between them are crossed. As a reward for his reformation, Thomas is commissioned to audit security amongst Embassy staff. Learning of Mia's connections to the defector, he is compelled to dig deeper into the life of the woman who has captivated him. Suddenly, all that Mia has done to get close to Thomas begins to cause her undoing.

Recensione:

'An impressively layered and carefully constructed novel ... an author worth watching' Daily Mail. (Daily Mail)

'Fantastic ... The thriller element of the story moves at a belting pace' Saga. (Saga)

'One of the most compelling, haunting and thrilling debuts I have ever read. It is a book of betrayals and borders, real and imagined, and of deceptions and desires which beautifully and dramatically evokes the spectres of Korea's past and the divisions of its present in ways reminiscent of The Quiet American or McEwan's The Innocent' David Peace. (David Peace)

'Excellent ... Written in crisp prose, Michell's novel deftly weaves the tale of Mia's torrid romance with the political history of the Korean peninsula. But in many ways her presentation of the British expatriates is more intriguing: like the embittered colonials in the stories of Graham Greene, Michell's Brits are both arrogant and insecure' Independent on Sunday. (Independent on Sunday)

'This stunning first novel is a fascinating portrait of a divided country, seething with prejudice and intrigue; Michell, who grew up in Seoul, takes the reader deep into the desperate, dangerous underground routes of the defectors from the North' The Times. (The Times)

'Michell reveals herself not only as a perceptive observer of character, but a writer capable of exploring big ideas ... Damaged, flawed Mia is a compelling protagonist' Guardian. (Guardian)