When We Fell Apart

November 1, 2021

Born to an American father and a Korean mother, Min was raised in California but never felt at home there. He moves to Seoul to find himself and falls for cheerful, accomplished university student Yu-jin, whose inexplicable suicide has him reeling. Did she really want to die? Investigating her life reveals that things are more complicated than he thought. From Pushcart-nominated Wiley.

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March 15, 2022
Four young people with varied backgrounds struggle for acceptance in Seoul, one of them with tragic results. Under great pressure from her demanding military father, Yu-jin, a sensitive girl from the southern part of South Korea, gains acceptance to a prestigious all-girls college in Seoul. She secretly hopes to "reinvent [her]self, start anew" in the dazzling big city, where she will discover her passion for filmmaking. But after her parents move to the capital and her father is named National Minister of Defense, she remains under close scrutiny. That creates big problems for her after she falls for So-ra, a strong-willed female classmate who wants to be open about their romance. To divert (literal) spying eyes, Yu-jin dates Min, a likable biracial Korean American who moved to Seoul from Los Angeles as a Samsung consultant in hopes of finding "some sense of belonging." Then there is the stylish Misaki, a Japanese outsider from a wealthy family whom Yu-jin and So-ra invite to be their roommate--only to coldly ignore her--as another means of hiding the true nature of their relationship. All permutations of this four-way connection unfold dramatically after Yu-jin is found dead of an apparent suicide. In an unusual format, the story is told in alternating chapters by Min (through the third person) as he investigates Yu-jin's death under threat from government operatives, and by Yu-jin, who narrates the events leading up to her death. Wiley, a first-time novelist, tends to explain his characters' needs and motivations. But fueled by deep feeling and a powerful sense of place, the book gains real emotional traction in capturing the despair of striving individuals pushed to the margins by conformist norms. A dark coming-of-age tale in the form of a mystery.

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Starred review from March 1, 2022
They are lost souls who find each other in Seoul. Minjun Ford (Min) is a biracial American who moved to South Korea primarily to better illuminate his identity. A consultant for Samsung, he helps native South Koreans learn the basics of American culture so they can conduct business. Yu-Jin Kim is the lone child of the national minister of defense of South Korea; she is trying to break free from crushing parental expectations and live life according to her own terms. Early in Wiley's debut novel, Min learns of Yu-Jin's death, an apparent suicide. Convinced that his friend could not have killed herself, Min sets off on a mission to find out what really happened. The layered suspense story is, at heart, a deeply nuanced and evocative exploration of identity and personal freedoms and the choices that dictate them. At times the connection between the Korean concept of Han, the anger and resentment felt by an entire nation as a result of centuries of oppression, and Yu-Jin's personal struggles feels a tad forced. Yet Wiley's tale is a knockout, its assured narrative ebbing and flowing with grace while painting a haunting and anguished portrait of youth in all its quiet desperation.

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