Hanging on to the end of life
hail mixed with rain
Tall Clown
sick soul
Five Sealed Rooms
That's how you live
Forgiveness for lost direction
elegant lie

Author's Note

In 2008, Kim Ryeo-ryeong, the author of 『Wandeukie』, which became a bestseller and created a boom in coming-of-age novels in the publishing world, has returned with her new work 『Elegant Lies』.
In this work, Kim Ryeo-ryeong's signature writing style, characterized by sharp wit and piercing sentences, remains, but the work's message, which delves deeply into human relationships and psychology, captures attention anew.

Our cruel lies to protect ourselves… …and our hot tears

"Elegant Lies" begins with the suicide of Cheonji, a seemingly ordinary fourteen-year-old girl.
Unable to understand the death of Cheonji, the older sister Manji follows the traces left by her younger brother and puts the puzzle together, but the heartbreaking truth gradually comes to light.
The process of tracing the clues to the case conveys a tense atmosphere as the characters' psychology is explored and the insides are not easily revealed like an onion.
There is a lot of fun in chasing the increasingly tangled ball of yarn, believing that it will eventually unravel.
Hwayeon, a close friend of Cheonji, used Cheonji to protect her position among her friends, and the family that Cheonji loved did not understand Cheonji's worries.
However, when Cheonji discovers that he has left letters of forgiveness to those he has both hated and loved, he embraces Hwayeon.

Bullying, suicide, and friendship problems are common topics in young adult novels.
However, few works delve deeper into the dynamics of human relationships themselves, beyond simply dividing characters into perpetrators and victims.
Furthermore, the significance of this work is even greater in that it finds the possibility of regeneration without losing the thread of compassion for humanity.
Novelist Jeong Yu-jeong, who wrote the recommendation, praised the manuscript, saying, “I read it three times in one night and cried all three times,” and “It’s the best book I’ve read this year.”

A warm greeting to all of us who sometimes want to turn our backs on the world due to deep wounds.

The story in 『Elegant Lies』 began from author Kim Ryeo-ryeong's autobiographical experience.
It is said that when the author was around the same age as the protagonist, Cheonji, he too was tempted to turn his back on the cruel world.
What saved him was a sincere greeting from an acquaintance.
“It was also a day when I realized that there are not only people who tire me out and make me collapse, but also people who truly care about me and look after me.” (From the author’s note) In the work, although Cheonji has passed away, the people who remain will look after each other and take care of each other so that such a thing will not happen again.
Because I know that this is what will make the death of heaven and earth not in vain.

The author's message that a single 'elegant' word that pretends to be for the other person can lead someone to death, but it is also a sincere word that can save someone on the edge of a cliff, is clear and powerful.
Readers who were expecting a second 『Wandeukie』 from 『Elegant Lies』 might be initially surprised by the 180-degree change in the atmosphere of the work.
However, as you turn the pages, you will become more and more immersed in the deep and wide literary world of Kim Ryeo-ryeong.