Review by Booklist Review
Best-selling Korean author Lee (The Boy Who Escaped Paradise, 2016) deftly unwinds another intricately plotted narrative, his third English translation available stateside, this time ciphered by An Seon Jae, the British-born, naturalized Korean octogenarian scholar-teacher better known as Brother Anthony. At 43, artist Hanjo has "suffered, hit rock bottom in life, and then risen back into the light." He's the first to credit his wife as the enabler of his enviable success. "She was his mother, lover, manager, teacher, and watcher." After spending "a perfect day" together celebrating his forty-third birthday, he wakes on the first morning of his forty-fourth year to find his life completely upended. His wife has vanished, leaving behind a manuscript titled Your Lies about Me. It's supposed to be a novel, but readers will quickly recognize Hanjo and discover his damning past involving murder, assault, and decades of deceit. Peeling back layers with utmost precision, Lee bares a portrait of an artist as a desperately troubled young man; even more admirable are the masterful manipulations necessary for such decimating exposure.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Korean painter Hanjo Lee, the protagonist of this mesmerizing novel from Lee (The Investigation), must wrestle with his haunted, long-buried past. One summer day 26 years earlier, Jisoo Jang, the daughter of a wealthy, influential neighbor of Hanjo's family, was discovered dead in a nearby river. Jisoo's death created shock waves that eventually ruined the lives of her family members and Hanjo's as well. Hanjo has since married Haeri Jang, Jisoo's younger sister. On Hanjo's 43rd birthday, Haeri vanishes, leaving behind a scathing, soon-to-be-published novel about an artist of dubious morals whose career closely resembles Hanjo's own. Haeri's disappearance prompts Hanjo to try to find out exactly what happened that summer day. Lee excels at psychological realism, and Hanjo's quest to learn the truth feels naturally driven by deep, painful emotions. The pace never feels forced, and Lee does a masterly job of selecting the telling detail. Haeri's body, for instance, is covered by self-inflicted scars. This exquisite portrait of minds torn apart by mourning will appeal not just to mystery readers. Agent: Barbara Zitwer, Barbara Zitwer Agency. (Sept.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
On the morning of his 43rd birthday, successful artist Lee Hanjo awakens to find his wife has gone, leaving behind the manuscript of her soon-to-be-published novel. The novel closely parallels deadly events from Hanjo's youth, which threatens his career. During a long-ago summer, Hanjo fell in love with Jisoo, the daughter of a wealthy neighbor. Jisoo, however, loved Hanjo's brother, and perversely, Hanjo's brother loved someone else. When Jisoo turns up drowned in a reservoir, the police, who are pressured to close the case quickly, conclude that Jisoo was murdered. The tragic combination of deception, misconception, and revenge that ensues threatens to destroy both families. Lee (The Boy Who Escaped Paradise) crafts an exquisitely written mystery of Shakespearian proportions. Once set on their path, none of the characters can halt the inexorable march toward tragedy. The audio is narrated by Greg Chun, who maintains tension throughout the story's multiple twists and revelations. VERDICT Mystery and suspense fans will be enthralled by this complex and gorgeously written tale, but readers of family drama and general fiction will also find much to love.--Joanna M. Burkhardt
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A woman writes a damning novel about a character who closely resembles her husband, forcing him to face his culpability in a decades-old death. What is the statute of limitations on betrayal? How long can a secret be buried before it turns into an earthquake? And will revealing the truth--that slippery concept--provide resolution or peace? Skillfully rendered into English by translator An, the novel contemplates these issues in a murder mystery notable for its nuanced storytelling. Lee Hanjo is a renowned artist whose heretofore-devoted wife decamps from their home the night of his 43rd birthday, leaving behind a copy of a forthcoming book she has written without his knowledge. Her "autobiographical fiction," Your Lies About Me, is about a disreputable character who resembles Hanjo, and it upends his foundational suppositions about his childhood, marriage, and artistic abilities, reflecting the precarious nature of what people take, and make, to be true. "Some kinds of love have the power to reconstruct the past, the ability to restore a broken life," Lee writes, and in this novel, some kinds of love also have the power to destroy every aspect of what one imagines one's identity, and life, to be. The introduction of each new angle of Jang Jisoo's death more than 20 summers ago both adds to our knowledge and blurs the exact truth of what occurred. The abstract art world in which Hanjo's success fluctuates is equally a metaphor for how closely we examine or understand what isn't concretely factual in "an era when images define reality." Though relatively new to English-speaking audiences, Lee has sold millions of books in Korea, with adaptations into television series. A subtle psychological thriller. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
