Yoojin Grace Wuertz recommends
When the World Goes Quiet (2024)
Gian Sardar
"Sardar paints an intimate portrait of a passionate young woman - Evelien, an aspiring artist desperate for a future beyond domestic conventions -struggling to survive the last weeks of World War 1 in occupied Bruges. When the World Goes Quiet asks us to grapple with the difficult questions of what we owe each other of duty, love, and loyalty during times of unprecedented chaos and devastation. Sardar is a master weaver of electrifying unlikely allegiances - and shining hope in the darkest places. The payoff is unexpected and satisfying."
The Direction of the Wind (2023)
Mansi Shah
"Mansi Shah's second novel, The Direction of the Wind, is an absorbing exploration of the price of passion and blazing one's own path despite the weight of convention, family obligations, even motherhood. Using interlocking mother-daughter perspectives spanning decades and continents, Shah gives an unflinching portrayal of lost innocence, addiction, and misplaced romance. Despite heavy losses, this is a hopeful novel set in the city of light, where love prevails in unlikely friendships and the unbreakable bond of chosen family. Perfect reading for travelers and journeys of the heart."
The Kinship of Secrets (2018)
Eugenia Kim
"The Korean War has been called 'the forgotten war' in the West, but Kim's second novel, a powerful narrative about the ways families relentlessly love and protect each other despite immense challenges, is a story that demands to be remembered, along with its history. The Kinship of Secrets is both a meditation on homesickness and a celebration of homecoming that made me appreciate the complicated bonds between sisters, between mothers and daughters, and the love for relatives that become surrogate parents. A beautiful novel, and a necessary, important story for our times."
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