The Devoted

About the Book

In this emotionally transportive literary debut about family and fate, a young Korean woman becomes entrenched in an infamous crime organization--and the dangerous world she once sought to escape.

Raised in Hong Kong by their Korean grandmother in a quiet village, Eunha and her brother Solomon live a sheltered life. Their father is a Dragon Head, a leader within the infamous criminal organization of the Triads. While their beloved grandmother does her best to shield the children from the constant hum of violence and fear that surrounds their father and his world, Eunha only has Solomon and their one permitted companion, a boy named Kai, for company.

But as Eunha grows up and marries into a supposedly respectable Hong Kong family, the veneer of her careful life begins to crack. When her young son is kidnapped, she is cast into the city's criminal underground and back into the orbit of Kai, now a Dragon Head himself.

Will Eunha finally give in to the life she has strived so hard to rise above or was her future always fated?

The Devoted is at once a sweeping family drama, a moving account of forbidden love, and a story about a woman's determination to choose her own destiny.

About the Author :
Catherine Cho is the acclaimed author of The Devoted and the memoir Inferno. She was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2020 and shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize. Catherine also runs her own literary agency Paper Literary. Originally from the United States, she now lives with her family in London.

Review :
"An aching, extraordinary epic exposing the crushing price, and immeasurable rewards, of defiant resilience."
--Booklist (starred review) "Cho's writing is sensuous, with a transportive quality that draws readers into the world of her characters with immediacy...a work that is difficult to put down."
--Library Journal "Quietly devastating yet hugely atmospheric, this novel offers all the thrills of a binge-worthy box set delivered in bravura prose."
--Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton "From the first sentence, this book swept me into Eunha's world. I mourned and raged with her as she fought to claim who she is, a mother, a sister, a wife, a woman who is supposed to have escaped darkness but cannot elude her destiny. Catherine Cho creates a world that is as lush as it is violent, a place where poverty and wealth, beauty and viciousness are only a knife-edge apart. This book held me completely until its bittersweet end."
--Jennifer Fawcett, author of Beneath the Stairs and Keep This for Me "A beautiful, devastating story of love and loss. A stunning debut." -Christie Watson, author of Moral Injuries "A thrilling, mesmerizing tale of destiny and betrayal that will keep you guessing until the last page. I raced through it." -Cecile Pin, author of Wandering Souls "Beautifully sinister, haunting, and instantly transportive. Reading this peeled back the streets of my Hong Kong childhood to reveal a shadow world that I've only ever known through whispered stories. I loved the desire and the danger that pulsed throughout." -Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face "I couldn't put The Devoted down. Catherine Cho has written a novel that seethes in the best way. A thrilling exploration of love, isolation, family and the weight of growing up." -Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Starling Days