Flashlight
Published on: June 3, 2025
Flashlight by Hyun Choi is a haunting and multi-layered novel that begins with a mystery: ten-year-old Louisa, a biracial girl, is found washed up on the beach, while her father has vanished without a trace. What follows is not a whodunit, but a deeply introspective, character-driven journey that travels across time and voice, unraveling the emotional aftermath of a single tragedy.
Told through multiple perspectives, Flashlight slowly reveals the far-reaching impact of this event—not just on Louisa and those closest to her, but also through the lens of Korean individuals born in Japan, whose lives are shaped by displacement, colonization, and inherited grief. The novel explores what it means to belong, how identity is formed in the wake of imperialism, and whether returning to one’s so-called homeland ever brings true clarity.
Choi writes with stunning emotional depth, layering personal histories with the collective trauma of war and migration. The result is a story that reads more like a meditation than a plot-driven narrative. Her characters are raw and often conflicted, their pain spilling out in quiet moments rather than dramatic revelations. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Choi’s intention isn’t to solve a mystery, but to carefully examine the people left behind in its wake.
While the book demands patience—its long paragraphs and rich details require full attention—it rewards the reader with a slow-burning emotional intensity that culminates powerfully in the final chapters. Though some may feel the novel could have been shorter, the payoff is deeply moving.
For readers drawn to quiet, thoughtful explorations of family, memory, and cultural identity, Flashlight offers a beautifully written, emotionally resonant experience. It's a story that lingers—just like the beam of a flashlight catching something long hidden in the dark.
About the Author
Susan Choi
Susan Choi is a novelist whose work reflects a deep engagement with the complexities of identity, memory, and truth. Born in South Bend, Indiana, and raised between there and Houston, Texas, she brings a layered perspective to her writing—shaped by both place and personal history. She studied literature at Yale University and later honed her craft in writing at Cornell, experiences that deeply inform her storytelling. Before turning to fiction full time, she worked as a fact-checker at The New Yorker, where her meticulous attention to detail began to take root.
Her most recent novel, Trust Exercise (link), won the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction and became a national bestseller. The novel struck a cultural chord, earning recognition from numerous publications, including The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Buzzfeed, Entertainment Weekly, Los Angeles Times, ELLE, Bustle, Town & Country, Publishers Weekly, The Millions, The Chicago Tribune, and TIME as one of the best books of 2019.
Choi’s debut novel, The Foreign Student, was awarded the Asian-American Literary Award for Fiction, while her second novel, American Woman, was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize, showcasing her continued evolution as a powerful voice in American fiction.
She also collaborated with David Remnick to co-edit Wonderful Town: New York Stories from The New Yorker, a celebration of the city’s literary life. Her nonfiction has appeared in a range of outlets including Vogue, Tin House, Allure, O, The Oprah Magazine, and The New York Times, as well as in anthologies like Money Changes Everything and Brooklyn Was Mine.
A recipient of prestigious fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, Choi lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, food critic Pete Wells, and their two sons, Dexter and Elliot.
| Book Title | Flashlight |
|---|---|
| Author | Susan Choi |
| ISBN | |
| Book Language | English |
| Book Format | Ebook, Paperback, Hardcover |
| Date Published | June 3, 2025 |
| Publisher | Farrar-Straus and Giroux |
| Awards | None |
| Pages | |
| Tags | Japan |
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.