{"product_id":"the-incendiaries-9780349011882","title":"The Incendiaries","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Absolutely electric'' Garth Greenwell \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ''A major talent'' \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Reminiscent of Donna Tartt''s \u003ci\u003eThe Secret History\u003c\/i\u003e''\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e New Yorker\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003ePhoebe Lin and Will Kendall fall in love at university.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePhoebe is a glamorous girl who doesn''t tell anyone she blames herself for her mother''s recent death.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWill is a misfit scholarship boy who transfers from Bible college.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut a charismatic former student draws Phoebe into his cult - an extremist group with secretive ties to North Korea. When the group bombs several buildings in the name of faith, killing five people, Phoebe disappears. Will devotes himself to finding her, tilting into obsession himself, discovering how far we can go when we lose what we love. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''An important new writer'' \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ''R. O. Kwon is the real deal'' Lauren Groff\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFairy-tale quality reminiscent of Donna Tartt's \u003ci\u003eThe Secret History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e * New Yorker *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Incendiaries\u003c\/i\u003e is a book of careful feints - the emphases in the story never fall where you expect, but Kwon is always in total control . . . \u003cb\u003ea startlingly assured book by an important new writer \u003c\/b\u003e * Guardian, Book of the Day *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eA \u003cb\u003epulsating\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003ehypnotic\u003c\/b\u003e debut novel . . . Kwon's subject is not so much love and betrayal - though both forces are\u003cbr\u003epresented as elementally destructive - as the power of religion, and the grieving that engulfs those\u003cbr\u003ewho lose faith. She understands what a believer will do to retain her sense of belonging, to never be\u003cbr\u003elonely again . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Incendiaries\u003c\/i\u003e packs a \u003cb\u003edisruptive \u003c\/b\u003echarge, and introduces RO Kwon as \u003cb\u003ea major talent\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhat an intriguing novel. \u003c\/b\u003eTold in spare, revealing prose from the three central characters' points of view, it makes the reader look again at faith, fanaticism and identity * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe debut novel from the Korean-American writer RO Kwon starts with a bomb attack carried out by an\u003cbr\u003eextremist Christian cult. Will Kendall knows his former girlfriend, Phoebe Lin, was one of the perpetrators; what plays out in this short, sharp tale is the story of why . . . When Phoebe is approached by John Leal, a barefoot preacher who claims to have been a prisoner in a North Korean gulag, she believes he offers the purpose and discipline she has lost. But Will, struggling to come to terms with the loss of his Christian faith, sees through Leal. This triumvirate of flawed characters share the narrative focus as events spiral towards their bloody denouement - \u003cbr\u003eand Kwon's spare, scalpel-like writing makes Phoebe's tumble into Leal's crazed vision utterly convincing\u003c\/p\u003e * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eR. O. Kwon's characters leave you unsure of where reality stands in a narrative that is \u003cb\u003ebeautifully disorienting\u003c\/b\u003e. As each retreats further into their own mind, the language becomes more jarring, and the logic harder to follow, in a way that mimics the real-life terror of obsession * Literary Hub *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA swift, sensual novel \u003c\/b\u003eabout the unraveling of a collegiate relationship and its aftermath. Kwon writes gracefully about the spiritual insecurities of millennials -- Karan Mahajan, author of The Association of Small Bombs\u003cbr\u003eAn \u003cb\u003eimpressive\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003eassured\u003c\/b\u003e debut about the hope for personal and political revolution and all the unexpected ways it flickers out. \u003cb\u003eKwon has vital things to say about the fraught times we live in\u003c\/b\u003e -- Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReligion\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003epolitics\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003elove\u003c\/b\u003e collide in this slim but \u003cb\u003epowerful \u003c\/b\u003enovel reminiscent of Donna Tart's \u003ci\u003eThe Secret History\u003c\/i\u003e, with \u003cb\u003emenace\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003emystery\u003c\/b\u003e lurking in every corner * People (Book of the Week) *\u003cbr\u003eEvery explosive requires a fuse. \u003cb\u003eThat's R. O. Kwon's novel, a straight, slow-burning fuse. \u003c\/b\u003eTo read her novel is to follow an inexorable flame coming closer and closer to the object it will detonate-the characters, the crime, the story, and, ultimately, the reader -- Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer and The Refugees\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Incendiaries\u003c\/i\u003e is a God-haunted, willful, strange book \u003c\/b\u003ewritten with a kind of savage elegance. I've said it before, but now I'll shout it from the rooftops: \u003cb\u003eR. O. Kwon is the real deal\u003c\/b\u003e -- Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies and Florida\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Incendiaries\u003c\/i\u003e probes the\u003cb\u003e seductive\u003c\/b\u003e and\u003cb\u003e dangerous\u003c\/b\u003e places to which we drift when loss unmoors us. In dazzlingly acrobatic prose, \u003cb\u003eR. O. Kwon explores the lines between faith and fanaticism, passion and violence, the rational and the unknowable\u003c\/b\u003e -- Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere and Everything I Never Told You\u003cbr\u003eRadiant . . . \u003cb\u003ea dark, absorbing story of how first love can be as intoxicating and dangerous as religious fundamentalism\u003c\/b\u003e . . . * New York Times Book Review *\u003cbr\u003eThis debut novel is \u003cb\u003eabsolutely electric\u003c\/b\u003e, something new in the firmament.\u003cb\u003e Everyone should read this book\u003c\/b\u003e -- Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You\u003cbr\u003eFaith and its furies lie at the heart of \u003ci\u003eThe Incendiaries\u003c\/i\u003e, R. O. Kwon's disarmingly propulsive debut . . . It's \u003cb\u003ea combustive tale \u003c\/b\u003eabout the human compulsion to latch onto something bigger than ourselves, no matter the cost * Vogue *\u003cbr\u003eA\u003cb\u003e stunning\u003c\/b\u003e debut, \u003ci\u003eThe Incendiaries\u003c\/i\u003e is a story of interpersonal and religious devotion . . . It's a\u003cb\u003e discomforting yet thoroughly engrossing read\u003c\/b\u003e about processing trauma and changing ideals at the precipice of adulthood and the overwhelming power of conviction. After this impressive introduction of her work to the world, \u003cb\u003ewe're excited to see where Kwon takes us in the future\u003c\/b\u003e * Marie Claire *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Incendiaries\u003c\/i\u003e is the most buzzed about debut of the summer, as it should be . . .\u003c\/b\u003e [it] is a sharp, little novel as hard to ignore as a splinter in your eye . . . In a nation still so haunted by the divine promise, on the cusp of ever-more contentious debates about abortion and other intrinsically spiritual issues, \u003ci\u003eThe Incendiaries\u003c\/i\u003e arrives at precisely the right moment * Washington Post *\u003cbr\u003eA classic love triangle between two tormented college students and God. \u003ci\u003eThe Incendiaries\u003c\/i\u003e brings us, page by page, from quiet reckonings with shame and intimacy to a violent, grand tragedy. In a conflagration of lyrical prose, \u003cb\u003eR. O. Kwon skillfully evokes the inherent extremism of young love\u003c\/b\u003e -- Tony Tulathimutte, author of Private Citizens\u003cbr\u003eAn\u003cb\u003e exquisitely written\u003c\/b\u003e novel about love, loss and faith taken to extremes * Refinery29 *","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48733638656343,"sku":"9780349011882","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780349011882.jpg?v=1720000970","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-incendiaries-9780349011882","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}