Chang-rae Lee Knihy

A Gesture Life is a haunting, compelling exploration of the Japanese experience of the Second World War, and the fate of their 'comfort women'.

June Han was only a girl when the Korean War left her orphaned; Hector Brennan was a young GI who fled the petty tragedies of his small town to serve his country.

Being a solo flyer made sense to Jerry Battle right from the start. For his 56th birthday, his longtime (and recently ex-) girlfriend Rita Reyes had given him a gift certificate for a flying lesson. Once Jerry was up there he thought everything looked perfect. But everything isn't perfect and for such a nice guy, Jerry could wreak an amazing amount of havoc ... Life is about to deal Jerry Battle his toughest hand yet. With his ailing father yearning to flee his Care Centre and his son teetering on bankruptcy, and, for once, no woman in his life to rely on, Jerry's daughter is about to bestow on him a father's worst nightmare. But maybe Jerry Battle needs to finally work out what it is that separates him from his loved ones and be tugged back to earth to engage with his family.

ONE OF THE ATLANTIC’S GREAT AMERICAN NOVELS OF THE PAST 100 YEARS The debut novel from critically acclaimed and New York Times–bestselling author of On Such a Full Sea and My Year Abroad. In Native Speaker, author Chang-rae Lee introduces readers to Henry Park. Park has spent his entire life trying to become a true American—a native speaker. But even as the essence of his adopted country continues to elude him, his Korean heritage seems to drift further and further away. Park's harsh Korean upbringing has taught him to hide his emotions, to remember everything he learns, and most of all to feel an overwhelming sense of alienation. In other words, it has shaped him as a natural spy. But the very attributes that help him to excel in his profession put a strain on his marriage to his American wife and stand in the way of his coming to terms with his young son's death. When he is assigned to spy on a rising Korean-American politician, his very identity is tested, and he must figure out who he is amid not only the conflicts within himself but also within the ethnic and political tensions of the New York City streets. Native Speaker is a story of cultural alienation. It is about fathers and sons, about the desire to connect with the world rather than stand apart from it, about loyalty and betrayal, about the alien in all of us and who we finally are.

"From the award-winning author of NATIVE SPEAKER and ON SUCH A FULL SEA, a brilliant, exuberant and entertaining story of a young American whose life is transformed when a Chinese-American businessman suddenly takes him under his wing on a global adventure"-- Provided by publisher

Een bejaarde Amerikaanse man van Japans-Koreaanse afkomst laat eindelijk zijn gevoelens over zijn ervaringen in het Japanse leger tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog toe.

Overgave is een verbijsterende roman over hoe levens door liefde en oorlog onherstelbaar veranderen. Het verhaal voert ons snel heen en weer in de tijd, van Korea naar New Jersey, naar Mantsjoerije en Italië. June Han is nog maar een jong meisje als de oorlog in Korea haar tot wees maakt; Hector Brennan is een jonge Amerikaanse soldaat die de kleingeestige drama’s van zijn stadje is ontvlucht om zijn land te dienen. Als de oorlog is afgelopen komen hun levens samen in een Koreaans weeshuis waar ze beiden naar de gunsten van Sylvie Tanner dingen, de mooie maar ernstig getraumatiseerde domineesvrouw, wier onvatbare liefde alles op losse schroeven zet. Pas dertig jaar later worden June en Hector aan de andere kant van de wereld tot elkaar veroordeeld en moeten ze de mysterieuze geheimen van hun verleden, de schokkende daden van liefde en geweld die hen verbinden, onder ogen zien. Overgave is schitterend, bloedstollend en onvergetelijk: een diepzinnige bespiegeling over het wezen van heldenmoed en opoffering, de kracht van de liefde, en de mogelijkheden tot genade en verlossing.