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Simple Heart
A deeply moving and heartfelt story about a Korean woman who returns to Seoul to unravel the mystery of her origins, thirty-five years after she was found abandoned as a child at a train station.
Before she was named Nana by a French couple who adopted her as a child, she was Esther Pak, a girl growing up in a Korean orphanage. And before she was Esther Pak, she was Munju, a small child abandoned on the railway tracks of Cheongnyangni Station in Seoul.
Nana has no memories of the first three or four years of her life, no family records detailing the personal information of her parents, no birth certificate, or any medical records from the hospital where she was born. She was abandoned on the railway tracks at a station in Seoul, where a train conductor saved her life and took her in for a year, before sending her to an orphanage where she was eventually put up for international adoption.
Adopted by a French couple, she is now a playwright in Paris in her late thirties. The day she finds out she is pregnant with her first child, she receives an email from Seoyeong, a Korean filmmaker who wishes to make a documentary about her life. Nana accepts the offer, hoping to reconcile with her past as she prepares to become a mother herself. She travels to Seoul during the summer and stays at the filmmaker’s apartment. One night, during a power outage, Nana ventures to Bokhee’s Kitchen, the restaurant on the ground floor, and befriends the woman running it. They develop a strong bond. But as Nana moves through Seoul, visiting the orphanage and the train station where she was abandoned thirty-five years ago, the woman everyone calls Bokhee has a stroke and is hospitalized—and her real name and past come to light.
Simple Heart is a powerfully moving novel that delves into the lives of women from post-war to present and touches on international adoption, the U.S. military presence, poverty and class, xenophobia and patriarchy. But above all it is about the bonds of love between women and children, and the difficult choices mothers have to make.
Before she was named Nana by a French couple who adopted her as a child, she was Esther Pak, a girl growing up in a Korean orphanage. And before she was Esther Pak, she was Munju, a small child abandoned on the railway tracks of Cheongnyangni Station in Seoul.
Nana has no memories of the first three or four years of her life, no family records detailing the personal information of her parents, no birth certificate, or any medical records from the hospital where she was born. She was abandoned on the railway tracks at a station in Seoul, where a train conductor saved her life and took her in for a year, before sending her to an orphanage where she was eventually put up for international adoption.
Adopted by a French couple, she is now a playwright in Paris in her late thirties. The day she finds out she is pregnant with her first child, she receives an email from Seoyeong, a Korean filmmaker who wishes to make a documentary about her life. Nana accepts the offer, hoping to reconcile with her past as she prepares to become a mother herself. She travels to Seoul during the summer and stays at the filmmaker’s apartment. One night, during a power outage, Nana ventures to Bokhee’s Kitchen, the restaurant on the ground floor, and befriends the woman running it. They develop a strong bond. But as Nana moves through Seoul, visiting the orphanage and the train station where she was abandoned thirty-five years ago, the woman everyone calls Bokhee has a stroke and is hospitalized—and her real name and past come to light.
Simple Heart is a powerfully moving novel that delves into the lives of women from post-war to present and touches on international adoption, the U.S. military presence, poverty and class, xenophobia and patriarchy. But above all it is about the bonds of love between women and children, and the difficult choices mothers have to make.
231 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 5, 2019
224 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 3, 2026
Thank you to Libro.fm and Other Press for an advanced listener copy of Simple Heart by Cho Haejin, translated by Jamie Chang, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. Simple Heart is a thought provoking look into one woman’s search for answers after her transracial adoption.
In this short novel, the author manages to include an impressive range of emotions and opinions. The story features Nana, formerly known as Ester Pak and Munju, a pregnant French playwright who travels to her native South Korea to take part in a documentary and to search for her birth story. I enjoyed the glimpses of Seoul as Nana returns to the train station where she was abandoned and the orphanage where her French parents adopted her. I found the backstory of her adoption from her French mother’s perspective to be deeply moving. As well as the strong connection that she makes with an old Korean woman who has her own adoption story. The novel tackles abandonment issues, the complicated issues related to transracial adoption, motherhood, and the difficult choices some women must make. I had some difficulty identifying with Nana and the author’s apparent dislike for adoption, and would have liked more of a resolution of Nana’s origin story. 3.5/5⭐️
The audiobook is narrated by Jean Yoo. I thought she did a great job capturing Nana’s emotions throughout the novel.
In this short novel, the author manages to include an impressive range of emotions and opinions. The story features Nana, formerly known as Ester Pak and Munju, a pregnant French playwright who travels to her native South Korea to take part in a documentary and to search for her birth story. I enjoyed the glimpses of Seoul as Nana returns to the train station where she was abandoned and the orphanage where her French parents adopted her. I found the backstory of her adoption from her French mother’s perspective to be deeply moving. As well as the strong connection that she makes with an old Korean woman who has her own adoption story. The novel tackles abandonment issues, the complicated issues related to transracial adoption, motherhood, and the difficult choices some women must make. I had some difficulty identifying with Nana and the author’s apparent dislike for adoption, and would have liked more of a resolution of Nana’s origin story. 3.5/5⭐️
The audiobook is narrated by Jean Yoo. I thought she did a great job capturing Nana’s emotions throughout the novel.
January 27, 2026
(3.25 rounded down) Character driven and introspective, this slow-paced novel feels 200 pages longer than it really is. While it was a bit repetitive, it touches on important topics such as interracial adoption and cultural displacement.
Anyone who is adopted or knows someone who is will likely align well with the protagonist who is yearning to find her identity through the history of her origin.
Thank you to Other Press for a physical ARC and thank you to Libro.fm for access to the ALC!
Anyone who is adopted or knows someone who is will likely align well with the protagonist who is yearning to find her identity through the history of her origin.
Thank you to Other Press for a physical ARC and thank you to Libro.fm for access to the ALC!
November 26, 2025
‘Simple Heart’ is a profoundly moving story of one woman’s journey of rediscovering her past and facing her traumas by traveling back to Korea, where she was born and abandoned as a child before being adopted.
It vaguely reminded me of the 2017 movie ‘Lion’ and the writing structure was reminiscent of Ocean Vuong’s ‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’. I was consistently pulled into the story both with beautiful writing and the plot. I would highly recommend for those who are fans of literary fiction and any self-discovery/ character introspection novels.
The story was also multi-linear, and deviated from the original concept to include much larger societal themes and characters throughout that I found DEEPLY impressive for a book that clocks in at less than 250 pages.
My only hesitancy with any part of this book was the emphasis on stressing motherhood and heavily discouraging (and certain characters shaming abortion and adoption. In the current US political climate, this can be a nuanced issue. However, it’s also a nuanced issue in the book that the narrator herself is coping with, so I’m giving it some grace. Just know to expect it!
Over impression: Highly expressed, beautiful story, and I think will be a high contender for translated work awards next year (US release date is in Feb 2026, I read as an ARC (thank you!!))
Overall rating : 4.5/5 !
It vaguely reminded me of the 2017 movie ‘Lion’ and the writing structure was reminiscent of Ocean Vuong’s ‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’. I was consistently pulled into the story both with beautiful writing and the plot. I would highly recommend for those who are fans of literary fiction and any self-discovery/ character introspection novels.
The story was also multi-linear, and deviated from the original concept to include much larger societal themes and characters throughout that I found DEEPLY impressive for a book that clocks in at less than 250 pages.
My only hesitancy with any part of this book was the emphasis on stressing motherhood and heavily discouraging (and certain characters shaming abortion and adoption. In the current US political climate, this can be a nuanced issue. However, it’s also a nuanced issue in the book that the narrator herself is coping with, so I’m giving it some grace. Just know to expect it!
Over impression: Highly expressed, beautiful story, and I think will be a high contender for translated work awards next year (US release date is in Feb 2026, I read as an ARC (thank you!!))
Overall rating : 4.5/5 !
November 22, 2025
This small novel packs a lot in and it's incredibly thought provoking. Nana, formerly know as Munju, is a French Korean playwright, who is also a transracial adoptee, goes back to Korea to be part of a documentary, in search of her origin story. While there, she also befriends an older restaurant owner, who feeds her body and soul. This exploration of transracial adoptions through Munju's and another's as well as feelings of displacement and abandonment, capture why this is such a complex issue. And, it's only explorations of these lives is how better understanding can be attained.
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
December 13, 2025
“그러니까 하나의 생명을 외면하지 않고 자기 삶으로 끌어들이는 방식…”(130p)
어릴 적 프랑스로 입양된 주인공 문주는, 우연한 기회로 입양을 다룬 다큐멘터리를 촬영하기 위해 한국을 찾게 된다. 그 과정에서 그녀는 자신과 비슷한 사연을 지닌 아이를 해외로 입양 보냈던 낯선 이를 우연히 만나게 된다. 지금까지 문주를 버티게 해왔던 ‘철로에 버려졌다’는 왜곡된 기억과 그로부터 비롯된 분노는, 또 다른 입양아 복희의 이야기를 따라가며 드러나는 진실 앞에서 서서히 변화해 간다.
누군가가 아무 조건 없이 건넨 환대가 여러 사람의 우주를 조금씩 바꿔가는 과정.... 그 변화가 마음을 뭉클하게 만든다.
어릴 적 프랑스로 입양된 주인공 문주는, 우연한 기회로 입양을 다룬 다큐멘터리를 촬영하기 위해 한국을 찾게 된다. 그 과정에서 그녀는 자신과 비슷한 사연을 지닌 아이를 해외로 입양 보냈던 낯선 이를 우연히 만나게 된다. 지금까지 문주를 버티게 해왔던 ‘철로에 버려졌다’는 왜곡된 기억과 그로부터 비롯된 분노는, 또 다른 입양아 복희의 이야기를 따라가며 드러나는 진실 앞에서 서서히 변화해 간다.
누군가가 아무 조건 없이 건넨 환대가 여러 사람의 우주를 조금씩 바꿔가는 과정.... 그 변화가 마음을 뭉클하게 만든다.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This book is a quiet, moving journey that really sticks with you. It follows Nana, a woman who was adopted from Korea and raised in France. Now that she is pregnant, she returns to Seoul to film a documentary about her past. It is not a fast-paced mystery, but a slow and lyrical exploration of what it means to belong to a place or a person.
The heart of the story lies in Nana tracing the three different names she held before her adoption. Each name represents a different person who looked after her when she was just a toddler found at a train station. I loved how the author, Cho Hae-jin, focuses on the small acts of kindness from strangers rather than just the traditional biological family search.
One of the most touching parts is the relationship between Nana and a restaurant owner named Bokhee. Their bond is built over meals and shared silences. It shows how people who have lost everything can still find ways to care for one another. The book highlights the "invisible" women in society who carry heavy burdens but still act with incredible selflessness.
The historical context of South Korea in the 70s and 80s adds a lot of depth to the narrative. You get a sense of why so many children were sent abroad and the social pressure women faced during that time. It made me think about the "simple heart" mentioned in the title, which refers to the pure intent of the people who saved Nana when she was most vulnerable.
I found the ending to be bittersweet and very realistic. It doesn't offer easy answers or perfect reunions, but it gives Nana a sense of peace as she prepares to become a mother herself. The prose is beautiful and has a hazy, dreamlike quality that matches the feeling of trying to remember a childhood that was lost.
I'm highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys character-driven stories about identity and human connection. It is a tenderly written novel that reminds us how we are all connected by chains of small, forgotten gestures. It is a story that feels both deeply personal and universal.
Thank you to Other Press for the physical ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
The heart of the story lies in Nana tracing the three different names she held before her adoption. Each name represents a different person who looked after her when she was just a toddler found at a train station. I loved how the author, Cho Hae-jin, focuses on the small acts of kindness from strangers rather than just the traditional biological family search.
One of the most touching parts is the relationship between Nana and a restaurant owner named Bokhee. Their bond is built over meals and shared silences. It shows how people who have lost everything can still find ways to care for one another. The book highlights the "invisible" women in society who carry heavy burdens but still act with incredible selflessness.
The historical context of South Korea in the 70s and 80s adds a lot of depth to the narrative. You get a sense of why so many children were sent abroad and the social pressure women faced during that time. It made me think about the "simple heart" mentioned in the title, which refers to the pure intent of the people who saved Nana when she was most vulnerable.
I found the ending to be bittersweet and very realistic. It doesn't offer easy answers or perfect reunions, but it gives Nana a sense of peace as she prepares to become a mother herself. The prose is beautiful and has a hazy, dreamlike quality that matches the feeling of trying to remember a childhood that was lost.
I'm highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys character-driven stories about identity and human connection. It is a tenderly written novel that reminds us how we are all connected by chains of small, forgotten gestures. It is a story that feels both deeply personal and universal.
Thank you to Other Press for the physical ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
January 9, 2026
Thank you to Libro.fm for the ALC! All opinions are my own. I’d rate this closer to a 3.5/5.
This was a short but deep cut. A French playwright, Nana, learns she is pregnant with her ex-boyfriend’s child and is overcome with the need to further explore her own childhood, adoption and origin story in Korea. She travels to Korea after agreeing to star in a documentary exploring her life to really launch the exploration of her adoption and begin tracing what she can track down of her story & roots. While in Korea, she befriends an older woman and quickly builds a strong although short-lived relationship with her while exploring and experiencing such a deep and wide array of emotions and identity - from adoption and abandonment, to pregnancy and motherhood.
The study on adopted children and the experience and emotions they go through was thoughtfully illustrated. Feelings of abandonment and trying to find connection and a sense of belonging, and how that is experienced from a child’s perspective all the way to adulthood was deeply emotional.
The ending felt a bit rushed for our MC, Nana. Or perhaps just not as clearly resolute as I’d have liked it. It seemed the focus continued to shift more towards the elderly woman. While there was a bit more experience and story to be shared there that overlapped and resonated with the overall story, it was not about our MC and felt like we got off track.
This was a short but deep cut. A French playwright, Nana, learns she is pregnant with her ex-boyfriend’s child and is overcome with the need to further explore her own childhood, adoption and origin story in Korea. She travels to Korea after agreeing to star in a documentary exploring her life to really launch the exploration of her adoption and begin tracing what she can track down of her story & roots. While in Korea, she befriends an older woman and quickly builds a strong although short-lived relationship with her while exploring and experiencing such a deep and wide array of emotions and identity - from adoption and abandonment, to pregnancy and motherhood.
The study on adopted children and the experience and emotions they go through was thoughtfully illustrated. Feelings of abandonment and trying to find connection and a sense of belonging, and how that is experienced from a child’s perspective all the way to adulthood was deeply emotional.
The ending felt a bit rushed for our MC, Nana. Or perhaps just not as clearly resolute as I’d have liked it. It seemed the focus continued to shift more towards the elderly woman. While there was a bit more experience and story to be shared there that overlapped and resonated with the overall story, it was not about our MC and felt like we got off track.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Simple Heart is a quietly devastating and deeply introspective novel that explores identity, motherhood, and the long shadow of abandonment with rare emotional precision. Through Nana a Korean playwright adopted by a French family Cho Haejin traces a life shaped by multiple names, cultures, and losses, revealing how the past persists even when buried beneath years of reinvention.
As Nana prepares to become a mother herself, her pregnancy awakens an urgent need to understand her origins: from her life in France, to her childhood as Esther Pak in a Korean orphanage, and finally to Munju, the infant abandoned on railway tracks in Seoul. The novel unfolds with restraint and grace, allowing memory to surface slowly through encounters, silences, and return. Cho’s prose is understated yet piercing, capturing the complexity of belonging without offering easy resolution.
With sensitivity and moral clarity, Simple Heart illuminates the emotional realities of international adoption, the legacy of US military presence in Korea, and the fragile bonds that define family. It is a novel of reckoning and recognition one that honors the quiet courage required to face who we were in order to understand who we are becoming.
As Nana prepares to become a mother herself, her pregnancy awakens an urgent need to understand her origins: from her life in France, to her childhood as Esther Pak in a Korean orphanage, and finally to Munju, the infant abandoned on railway tracks in Seoul. The novel unfolds with restraint and grace, allowing memory to surface slowly through encounters, silences, and return. Cho’s prose is understated yet piercing, capturing the complexity of belonging without offering easy resolution.
With sensitivity and moral clarity, Simple Heart illuminates the emotional realities of international adoption, the legacy of US military presence in Korea, and the fragile bonds that define family. It is a novel of reckoning and recognition one that honors the quiet courage required to face who we were in order to understand who we are becoming.
January 26, 2026
Thank you to Libro.fm for the ALC. The narrator of this book was excellent. I do have a bit of trouble following the names of Asian characters because they can be very similar when listening to an audiobook. However, I really love this story. Being adopted myself, I can understand the need to find where you came from and through this story I was able to get an appreciation of the feelings of international adoptees.
While it is not an historical fiction book, I did learn a lot about the presence of the US military in Korea and the impact that it left behind. I also liked the way that there were multiple adoption stories discussed throughout the book and the realistic storyline that not everyone may find their origin.
While it is not an historical fiction book, I did learn a lot about the presence of the US military in Korea and the impact that it left behind. I also liked the way that there were multiple adoption stories discussed throughout the book and the realistic storyline that not everyone may find their origin.
August 12, 2025
A profound book which led me to think. This book depicts those adopted children’s self-struggle and unsureness of their own identities very well. I was touched by the way woman helps woman, the kindness that a stranger can give to a baby.
June 10, 2024
太啰嗦了。主角的内心戏我很难共情，特别是她怀孕时候对子宫内那个胚胎的感情，难以理解。故事本身挺动人，但加上这些难以让人理解的内心戏就变成了咯噔文学。
January 27, 2026
Such a wonderful view of complex situations and decisions.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews