When We Fell Apart by Soon Wiley
When We FellApart is abeautifully writtenmystery, character studyand examination of bothAmerican and Koreanculture. Min, a man inhis late twenties, isvisited by a detectivewho tells him Yu-jin, his girlfriend, is dead.Min works for Samsung in Korea and hascome to Seoul for his job and to connectwith his Korean heritage. Born in Californiato a white father and a Korean mother, Minexperienced racism growing up despitetrying to fit the ‘all-American mould’ likehis father. However, in Seoul he is easilyidentified as American, with peoplecomplimenting his height and the shape ofhis nose. Ironically, his role in theworkplace is to teach colleagues Americancustoms, colloquial language and businessetiquette.
In alternate chapters, Yu-jin’s storyunfolds. The daughter of a high-rankinggovernment official, she excels in highschool, and gains entrance to a prestigiouswomen’s college in Seoul. Her future isoutlined by her parents and as a highschool student, she doesn’t question them.She ticks all the boxes and refers to herfuture as ‘our plan’.
When Yu-jin arrives at college, she isshocked by her outspoken roommate. Sora studies dance, something Yu-jin can’tbelieve is even possible. Gradually Yu-jindiscovers there is more to life than ‘theplan’, exploring the city, her sexuality andher rigid ideas about learning. She meetsMin in this process.
As Soon Wiley’s debut novel hurtlestoward the truth of Yu-jin’s death, whatunfolds is a complex and compelling storythat manages to be both a page-turner andan exploration of identity. Though somehave compared Wiley’s debut to the workof Celeste Ng, I found it resembled Ng’sfirst book, Everything I Never Told You,more than her better known Little FiresEverywhere. When We Fell Apart is a mustfor book clubs, posing questions aboutculture, families, how well we can knowanother person, and the emotional cost ofkeeping secrets.