The breaking point
When We Fell Apart: A Novel Soon Wiley Dutton
Soon Wiley's moving debut novel, When We Fell Apart, begins after the suicide of Yu-jin Kim, a promising student in her final semester at a prestigious university. Beloved by her father — the South Korean minister of national defence — Yu-jin seemed like someone with everything to live for. Her boyfriend, Min, convinced that he missed an opportunity to help, seeks answers about what Yu-jin was struggling with — and possibly hiding.
The novel's chapters alternate between Yu-jin's perspective in the years leading up to her death and Min's attempts to understand what happened afterward. The voices reveal a story about the pressures young adults living in Korean society face. Reminiscent of Cho Nam-joo's international bestseller — Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 — Wiley's novel depicts the rigid social and cultural expectations that govern women's careers, relationships and bodies. Even for a woman like Yu-jin, who was born with every privilege, the future is filled with choices that seem predetermined.
With the encouragement of her best friend, Sora, Yu-jin was doing what made her happy in a country where some, including her father, still regard the pursuit of happiness as an American convention. After years of doing what was expected of her, Yu-jin was secretly taking a film class that inspired her, and while still dating Min, she was having a passionate relationship with someone whose identity would probably ruin both her and her family's reputations.
While Yu-jin's chapters read like a mystery — propulsive and forensic in their examination of her secrets and desires — Min's storyline is more reactive. Other characters instruct him to meet them at clandestine places in and around Seoul, and he dutifully obeys, collecting more pieces of the puzzle along the way.
Wiley is a master of structure and pacing, with a gift for ending chapters at their most gripping moments, which gives this quiet, mournful novel the page-turning quality of a thriller. Yet what makes When We Fell Apart such a must-read is its portrayal of the pressure on young people in South Korea to conform and perform. Suicide has been the leading cause of death for the demographic since 2007 because of factors including financial troubles, high unemployment rates, a widening gap between rich and poor, and a hypercompetitive education system.
In one memorable chapter, Yu-jin prepares for life after graduation under her father's supervision. This includes a haircut and makeup consultation, a fitting for a custom-tailored suit and a professional headshot session in which her cheeks ache “from holding an expression that my father said must exude `serious but not intimidating, hard-working but not difficult.'”
In the end, Min, a biracial Korean-american struggling with his own issues of identity and acceptance, is the perfect person to search for answers about what happened to this woman who wanted to choose another path, one focused on art, love, freedom and individuality.