Bora Lee Reed, author of Song for Another Home
“Courageous and immersive, this is magnificent, emotional storytelling.” — Christian Science Monitor
“The novel is concerned with how life persists in the shadow of war, and how small, happy lives can be devastated by careless decisions made elsewhere.”
The Times (London)
Praise for Song for Another Home
“An astonishing debut, huge in its scale and evocation of an unsung history.”
Luke Kennard
author of Black Bag, shortlisted for the Booker Prize
“Unflinching in its portrayal of a broken world, Song for Another Home will break your heart and put it back together again, often on the same page.”
Gene Luen Yang
author of American Born Chinese
“A mesmerizing debut… Beautifully written and shimmering with love, sacrifice, and betrayal, this novel will echo with readers for a long time.”
Yangsze Choo
bestselling author of The Fox Wife
“A beautiful novel that conjures a whole world – a whole history – with such lightness of touch. I cared deeply for these characters and wept when it was time to say goodbye.”
Ruth Gilligan
author of The Butchers
“Ambitious and majestic, vividly imagined and meticulously crafted, the perfect balance of heartbreak and hope… A stellar debut.”
Natalie Baszile
author of Queen Sugar
“A beautifully told, beautifully constructed chronicle not just of war, but of growing up, of storytelling and survival… a magnificent debut.”
Laurie Frankel
author of This Is How It Always Is
When news hits in 1950 that the Americans have entered the war between North and South Korea, Oksoon and her family believe the fighting will soon end. But then China joins the war, and they’re forced to flee their home in Pyongyang. Journeying from the war-torn streets of the North in the winter to the seedy back alleys of the South Korean capital of Seoul in the summer, the family falls in with an unlikely group of miscreants.
Meanwhile, far to the south, Oksoon’s cousin Junho seeks refuge at an orphanage for abandoned children. As the institution struggles to keep its doors open, Junho, with his elementary command of English, is tasked with drafting letters to American benefactors. When the enigmatic director brings her aristocratic niece to the orphanage, Junho finds himself caught between his impulse for survival and his growing affections for the young woman, though his feelings put him at risk of being expelled from the only safe place he knows.
Movingly rendered, Song for Another Home highlights the power of resilience, the tension between personal dreams and duty to family, and how choices made in a brief moment have consequences that reverberate across time and through generations.
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About Bora
Bora Lee Reed has an MFA in creative writing from Warren Wilson College and an MA in theology from the Graduate Theological Union. She was a 2023 Reese’s Book Club LitUp Fellow. She lives and works in Berkeley, CA.
Her debut novel, Song for Another Home, was published by 37Ink (Simon and Schuster) in July 2026, and in the UK by Serpent’s Tail in August 2026.
Song for Another Home is now available in the UK from Serpent’s Tail.
“Full of heart and rich in history, Song for Another Home is an unforgettable portrait of resilience, courage, friendship and love that endures… Immersive and evocative, Reed’s prose simmers with unexpected secrets that catch you by surprise. At times tender and heartbreaking, Song for Another Home is nevertheless full of spirit.” — Buzz Magazine (Wales)
Get the stories behind Song for Another Home in Bora’s biweekly newsletter: Korean family history, the writing life, faith, and the occasional backpacking trip.