This Burns My Heart - by Samuel Park

This book is a Korean love story. That alone should tell you it was unusual for me to read this book. I don't normally read love stories - however, this one was on the Amazon 2011 list, so I tried it out. The book tells the story of a South Korean girl who gets married shortly after the Korean war. She wants to go to Seoul to attend diplomat school, but her parents want her to get married instead. So, she finds a boy who she believes she can manipulate into letting her attend diplomat school, and chooses to marry him. Just before her marriage, though, she meets and falls in love with someone else. However, she chooses to go through with her marriage, rather than marry the other guy.

The rest of the book tells the story of her life after marrying the original boy - who turns out to have tricked her into getting married. Several times later in life she runs across the second man she met. I won't say the book wasn't predictable - it ends the way you want it to end, with several twists and turns in between. However, what was fun/interesting was to get a glimpse into Korean culture, and the way that families are made and treated. This was a pretty easy read - got through it in a couple of days. If you like love stories - this is an easy one to follow.