The Law of Lines
Publisher,Arcade Publishing
Publication Date,
Format, Paperback
Weight,
No. of Pages, 264
Shelf: FICTION / ADULT FICTION / MYSTERY & THRILLER
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The Law of Lines follows the parallel stories of two young women whose lives are upended by sudden loss. When Se-oh, a recluse still living with her father, returns from an errand to find their house in flames, wrecked by a gas explosion, she is forced back into the world she had tried to escape. The detective investigating the incident tells her that her father caused the explosion to kill himself because of overwhelming debt she knew nothing about, but Se-oh suspects foul play by an aggressive debt collector and sets out on her own investigation, seeking vengeance.
Ki-jeong, a beleaguered high school teacher, receives a phone call from the police saying that the body of her younger half-sister has just been found. Her sister was a college student she had grown distant from. Though her death, by drowning, is considered a suicide by the police, that doesn't satisfy Ki-jeong, and she goes to her sister's university to find out what happened. Her sister's cell phone reveals a thicket of lies and links to a company that lures students into a virtual pyramid scheme, preying on them and their relationships. One of the contacts in the call log is Se-oh.
Like Hye-young Pyun's Shirley Jackson Award–winning novel The Hole, The Law of Lines is an immersive thriller that explores the edges of criminality in ordinary lives, the unseen forces that shape us, and grief and debt.
About the Author
Hye-young Pyun earned her undergraduate degree in creative writing and graduate degree in Korean literature from Hanyang University. Her published works include the short story collections Aoi Garden, To the Kennels, and Evening Courtship; and the novels City of Ash and Red and They Went to the Western Forest. Her novel The Hole was the 2017 winner of the Shirley Jackson Award. She currently teaches creative writing at Myongji University and lives in Seoul, Korea.
About the Translator
Sora Kim-Russell's translations include, besides The Hole and City of Ash and Red by Hye-young Pyun, Un-su Kim's The Plotters; Hwang Sok-yong's At Dusk, which was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize; and Suah Bae's Nowhere to be Found. She lives in Seoul, Korea.
