For its June 2023 selection, the Iron Book Discussion Group will read Crystal Hana Kim’s award-winning historical fiction novel If You Leave Me:
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BOOK DESCRIPTION: An emotionally riveting debut novel about war, family, and forbidden love; the unforgettable saga of two ill-fated lovers in Korea and the heartbreaking choices they’re forced to make in the years surrounding the civil war that still haunts us today.
When the communist-backed army from the north invades her home, sixteen-year-old Haemi Lee, along with her widowed mother and ailing brother, is forced to flee to a refugee camp along the coast. For a few hours each night, she escapes her family’s makeshift home and tragic circumstances with her childhood friend, Kyunghwan. Focused on finishing school, Kyunghwan doesn’t realize his older and wealthier cousin, Jisoo, has his sights set on the beautiful and spirited Haemi- and is determined to marry her before joining the fight.
But as Haemi becomes a wife, then a mother, her decision to forsake the boy she always loved for the security of her family sets off a dramatic saga that will have profound effects for generations to come.
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Copies of If You Leave Me can be picked up from the Book Discussion Shelf on our first floor, and its available digitally through Hoopla as an ebook or an audiobook.
An in-person discussion of If You Leave Me will be held at the library on Tuesday, June 13, at 7:00 PM.
And an online discussion of the book will be held via Zoom on Thursday, June 15, at 3:00 PM. If you’d like to attend the online discussion, please register through our Event Calendar. Participants will receive an email with the login information for Zoom after registering.
Published on May 17, 2023.
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