Where the grass blooms

On the night of 27 May 1980, the South Korean city of Gwangju witnessed the worst massacre of civilians ordered by its own government in the country's modern history. Under the pretext of suppressing communist subversion, top state officials approved military intervention to quell popular unrest, which was, in fact, an expression of dissent against the prevailing authoritarian regime. The novel follows the lives of several young protagonists whose paths cross on that fateful night. Those who survive must face persecution by state authorities and their own memories of the trauma they endured.