Starry Field

This poignant memoir traces 4 generations of family trauma against the backdrop of Korea's modern history for readers who love a sweeping intergenerational story like Pachinko and The Return.

Journalist and critic Margaret Juhae Lee tells the story of her search for the truth about the life and early death of her grandfather, Lee Chul Ha, a student revolutionary who was jailed for protesting the Japanese colonization of Korea in 1929.

At the end of her life, her grandmother, Halmani, opens up about Margaret's grandfather, the "criminal" who was imprisoned and a source of shame for the family. What Margaret unearths is a trove of extraordinary material concerning the life of her grandfather, information that both affirms and explodes what she had always believed about herself, her father, and their legacy.

Combining investigative journalism, oral history, and archival research, Starry Field weaves together the stories of Margaret's grandparents, parents, and herself against the backdrop of Korea's tumultuous modern history, from the colonial era to its technological boom.

The moving memoir is told in a series of short chapters anchored by 3 long-form interviews Margaret conducted with Halmani before her death. Though she initially sets out to uncover the secrecy around her grandfather's life, what she finds instead is a deep bond between her and her grandmother--2 women, 2 generations apart, living on opposite sides of the world, with the shared desire to start a family and find something called home.

20 memorable photographs will be included.