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Simple Heart
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Expected 3 Feb 26In this moving exploration of dual identities reminiscent of Past Lives, a Korean writer’s pregnancy raises questions about her own childhood abandonment.
Nana, a Korean playwright, was adopted as a child by a French couple. Before she was Nana, she was Esther Pak, a girl growing up in a Korean orphanage. And before she was Esther Pak, she was Munju, an infant abandoned on the railway tracks of Cheongnyangni station in Seoul.
Pregnant with the child of her ex-boyfriend, Nana receives a request from a Korean filmmaker who wishes to make a documentary about her life. Following a sudden compulsion to learn more about her own roots, she heads to Seoul as she prepares to bring a new life into the world. There, through unexpected encounters, the dark threads of her memory gradually begin to unravel.
Simple Heart delves into profound questions about identity and belonging, with a focus on family connections and motherhood that recalls Kyung-Sook Shin’s Please Look After Mother. It also shines a necessary light on issues such as international adoption and the historic US military presence in Korea.
Nana, a Korean playwright, was adopted as a child by a French couple. Before she was Nana, she was Esther Pak, a girl growing up in a Korean orphanage. And before she was Esther Pak, she was Munju, an infant abandoned on the railway tracks of Cheongnyangni station in Seoul.
Pregnant with the child of her ex-boyfriend, Nana receives a request from a Korean filmmaker who wishes to make a documentary about her life. Following a sudden compulsion to learn more about her own roots, she heads to Seoul as she prepares to bring a new life into the world. There, through unexpected encounters, the dark threads of her memory gradually begin to unravel.
Simple Heart delves into profound questions about identity and belonging, with a focus on family connections and motherhood that recalls Kyung-Sook Shin’s Please Look After Mother. It also shines a necessary light on issues such as international adoption and the historic US military presence in Korea.
240 pages, Paperback
First published July 5, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 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.
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.
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.
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。
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