Simple Heart

“Simple Heart is an astonishingly tender story of lost and found families. The novel’s sharp clarity and quiet patience allow for memories, secrets and hopes to blossom into profound self-knowledge. A moving work from a generous mind and a complex heart.” —Vinh Nguyen, author of The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse

“What does it mean to belong—to a place, to a name, to yourself? Simple Heart is an extraordinary novel, written with unsparing clarity and luminous tenderness. Cho Haejin bears witness to lives marked by abandonment and silence, yet sustained by the smallest acts of kindness. The result is storytelling at once devastating and consoling—unsettling and unforgettable in its revelations about what it means to live on—and to belong. Deeply resonant. Utterly moving.” —Yeji Y. Ham, author of The Invisible Hotel

“At its core, Simple Heart is a story of relationships—with ourselves, with family, and with strangers who may become friends, and even confidants. Cho’s vivid world-building pulls readers deep into the pages, immersing them in a journey that stirs fear and sorrow, yet blossoms into love, acceptance and hope. Moving and resonant, Simple Heart connects readers to other worlds and experiences—anything but simple, and unforgettable at heart.” —Ann Y. K. Choi, author of All Things Under the Moon

“Decades after being abandoned by her mother and taken in by a stranger, only to be given up for adoption overseas, Nana returns to South Korea to cast light on her origins. Far from a simple heart, Nana is possessed of a restive, searching, lonely, sometimes bitter but ultimately munificent heart, from which springs the deepest questions of childhood, motherhood, womanhood and personhood. Cho Haejin’s Simple Heart is a beautiful and intimate novel about all the ways family can be lost—and found.” —Jack Wang, author of The Riveter

“A stirring portrait of a young Korean French adoptee who, on the precipice of motherhood, is compelled to reach back into her past to search for her origins and the meaning of her Korean given name. A wise and elegant novel that explores belonging, memory and the heartbreaking, complex history of international adoption in Korea with tenderness and grace.” —Gina Chung, author of Sea Change and Green Frog

“The prose of this slim book is elegant and cool. . . . Simple Heart will make you cry. Its emotion is stunning and pure.”—The Globe and Mail

“In this novel of remembrance and discovery. . . . Haejin’s prose is soft and mysterious, with a drifting, almost Sebaldian quality.” —The New Yorker

“In Cho Haejin’s intricate, touching novel Simple Heart, a transnational adoptee returns to Korea. . . . The tone is lyrical and at times mystical. . . . The poignant novel Simple Heart explores questions of abandonment and belonging through stories of motherhood.” —Foreword Reviews

“For fans of movies Return to Seoul and Past Lives, as well as Kyung-Sook Shin’s Please Look After Mom.” —Electric Literature

“A reflective, tender story of a Korean adoptee who grew up in France and travels to Seoul when a filmmaker wants to make a documentary about her. Pregnant with her ex-boyfriend’s baby, she begins to question family, immigration, identity and belonging.” —Ms. Magazine

“Written in an understated style of considerable charm, Cho’s latest novel proves the value of revisiting what’s already known.” —Asian Review of Books

“Known for highlighting the experiences of the marginalized, Korean novelist Cho Haejin deftly navigates the complex emotions surrounding identity and place . . . Simple Heart is confident and clear, employing a direct, almost detached, tone that belies its deeply felt core. . . . Perfect for anyone who has ever wondered what their life might have been like under different circumstances, Simple Heart is full of heart and anything but simple.” —Shelf Awareness