Me, Then - Mia Kim

Mia Kim's debut novel, ME, THEN, set in Sixties post-war Korea, is a harrowing story of Su-young's life with her aunt and her family. After a series of disastrous stays in various foster homes, the five year old Su-young, an illegitimate child, a lasting stigma in traditionalist Korea, hopes to find a stable home with her aunt. Her mother works and lives at an American army base on the outskirts of Seoul and visits Su-young at weekends. But the visits come to an abrupt end when her mother marries a US Army soldier and flies to America, leaving Su-young behind. And soon, her aunt's family's fortunes turn for the worse. Her aunt cuts off all contact between Su-young and her mother and steals all monies sent for Su-young's care and education. A few months of separation turn into seven years. Alone in a hostile environment of deprivation and abuse, Su-young spirals down. Her only refuge is her love of music. Su-young's fight for survival will hold the reader in suspense until the final page.