Product details of A Small Revolution
In this powerful, page-turning debut, Jimin Han deftly shows that revolutions—whether big or small, in the world or of the heart—can have an impact that lasts through time and spans the oceans.
On a beautiful Pennsylvania fall morning, a gunman holds college freshman Yoona Lee and three of her classmates hostage in the claustrophobic confines of their dorm room. The desperate man with his finger on the trigger—Yoona’s onetime friend, Lloyd Kang—is unraveling after a mysterious accident in Korea killed his closest friend, Jaesung, who was also the love of Yoona’s life.
As the tense standoff unfolds, Yoona is forced to revisit her past, from growing up in an abusive household to the upheaval in her ancestral homeland to unwittingly falling in love. She must also confront the truth about what happened to Jaesung on that tragic day, even as her own fate hangs in the balance.
Through scenes of political upheaval and protests in South Korea, spirited conversations in cramped dumpling houses, and the quiet moments that happen when two people fall in love, A Small Revolution is a moving narrative brimming with longing, love, fear, and—ultimately—hope.
From the Editor
Pennsylvania. Fall 1985. Everything seems normal until Yoona Lee and three other classmates are taken hostage by a gunman in a small college dorm room. The gunman is Yoona’s onetime friend Lloyd Kang, desperate for answers about their mutual friend, who also happens to be the love of Yoona’s life.
During several tense hours of captivity, what horrors pass through these girls’ minds? How did young love end up an impetus for political activism, for hostage taking, for a brutal disaster? In a series of scenes interweaving past and present, readers discover that what unfolds is deeper than what is on the surface.
By the time I finished Jimin Han’s stunningly suspenseful and lyrical novel, I realized I hadn’t taken a full, deep breath in an hour. A Small Revolution twists and turns in haunting ways, brimming with a narrative that is full of longing and love and fear. I raced to the end to see what would happen to these college freshmen but then couldn’t bring myself to finish the book right away because I wanted to sit with these characters and Jimin’s words for a little longer.
Through poignant scenes of political turmoil and protests in South Korea, passionate exchanges about a citizen’s role in a burgeoning democracy over steaming cups of hot barley tea, and quiet moments that spring forth when two people start to fall in love, we learn that revolutions can have an impact that spans countries and cultures.
During several tense hours of captivity, what horrors pass through these girls’ minds? How did young love end up an impetus for political activism, for hostage taking, for a brutal disaster? In a series of scenes interweaving past and present, readers discover that what unfolds is deeper than what is on the surface.
By the time I finished Jimin Han’s stunningly suspenseful and lyrical novel, I realized I hadn’t taken a full, deep breath in an hour. A Small Revolution twists and turns in haunting ways, brimming with a narrative that is full of longing and love and fear. I raced to the end to see what would happen to these college freshmen but then couldn’t bring myself to finish the book right away because I wanted to sit with these characters and Jimin’s words for a little longer.
Through poignant scenes of political turmoil and protests in South Korea, passionate exchanges about a citizen’s role in a burgeoning democracy over steaming cups of hot barley tea, and quiet moments that spring forth when two people start to fall in love, we learn that revolutions can have an impact that spans countries and cultures.
- Vivian Lee, Editor
Editorial Reviews
Review
“We’ve all wondered what it’s like inside the rooms where the horrors unfold. Jimin Han’s relentless, timely A Small Revolution grabs you by the collar and pulls you inside, then back through her sympathetic character’s history to answer that question: How does a good girl end up inside a brutal disaster? How does young love become a mirage of political activism—and accident become hostage-taking and murder? Open the book; remember to breathe.” —Gwendolen Gross, author of When She Was Gone and The Orphan Sister
“On the heels of South Korea’s 1980s era pro-democracy uprisings, Jimin Han’s gripping debut novel, A Small Revolution, explores the volatile space between love and loss, desperation and deed.” —Julie Iromuanya, author of Mr. and Mrs. Doctor, a finalist for 2016 PEN/Faulkner Award and 2016 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Debut Fiction Award
“Jimin Han’s debut novel, A Small Revolution, is a riveting and mysterious tale of young love, political intrigue, family secrets, and dangerous obsession rendered in prose so gripping I couldn’t put it down.” —Joy Castro, author of The Truth Book and Hell or High Water
“With exquisite precision, Jimin Han’s A Small Revolution transforms the claustrophobic confines of an unfolding hostage crisis into an expansive meditation on the collisions between past and present, hope and fear, life and death. Elegant, elegiac, and unsettling, each new page offers insight and revelation.” —Steve Edwards, author of Breaking into the Backcountry
“Jimin Han’s A Small Revolution packs a big punch. With a front story taken from the headlines of gunmen on college campuses and a haunting backstory of events in Korea, our protagonist is forced into walking a tightrope between two worlds, as well as the past and present.” —Alan Russell, author of Lost Dog
“On the heels of South Korea’s 1980s era pro-democracy uprisings, Jimin Han’s gripping debut novel, A Small Revolution, explores the volatile space between love and loss, desperation and deed.” —Julie Iromuanya, author of Mr. and Mrs. Doctor, a finalist for 2016 PEN/Faulkner Award and 2016 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Debut Fiction Award
“Jimin Han’s debut novel, A Small Revolution, is a riveting and mysterious tale of young love, political intrigue, family secrets, and dangerous obsession rendered in prose so gripping I couldn’t put it down.” —Joy Castro, author of The Truth Book and Hell or High Water
“With exquisite precision, Jimin Han’s A Small Revolution transforms the claustrophobic confines of an unfolding hostage crisis into an expansive meditation on the collisions between past and present, hope and fear, life and death. Elegant, elegiac, and unsettling, each new page offers insight and revelation.” —Steve Edwards, author of Breaking into the Backcountry
“Jimin Han’s A Small Revolution packs a big punch. With a front story taken from the headlines of gunmen on college campuses and a haunting backstory of events in Korea, our protagonist is forced into walking a tightrope between two worlds, as well as the past and present.” —Alan Russell, author of Lost Dog
About the Author
Jimin Han received her MFA at Sarah Lawrence College and her BA from Cornell University. Her work appears in NPR’s Weekend America, Entropy, the Rumpus, HTMLGiant, The Good Men Project, Kartika Review, The NuyorAsian Anthology, and KoreanAmericanStory.org, among others. She teaches at Sarah Lawrence College’s Writing Institute and lives outside New York City with her husband and children.
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