Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beasts of a Little Land | 2021 | Juhea Kim | Buy |
| 2 | City of Night Birds | 2024 | Juhea Kim | Buy |
These are the standalone novels by Juhea Kim in publication order. Both novels are literary fiction with strong historical settings, though they take place in different countries and time periods.
Beasts of a Little Land (2021) is Kim’s internationally bestselling debut, set in Korea across nearly five decades of occupation, war, and political upheaval. The novel follows a group of characters from childhood to middle age as their lives are shaped by the forces of history around them. It was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and won the 2024 Yasnaya Polyana Award.
City of Night Birds (2024) moves to the world of Russian ballet. It follows prima ballerina Natalia Leonova from her training at a St. Petersburg ballet school through the competitive ranks of the Bolshoi and the Paris Opera. The novel was selected as a Reese’s Book Club pick. Both books share Kim’s interest in characters who push against the constraints of their circumstances, whether political or personal.