Flashlight

by Lizi Boyd, Susan Choi · 2014

Flashlight is a sweeping novel that follows the disappearance of a father, Serk, on a summer night when ten‑year‑old Louisa is left soaked and barely alive on a beach. The story unfolds across decades and continents, tracing the fractured lives of Louisa, her American mother Anne, and the lingering shadows of Serk’s Korean‑Japanese heritage and his ties to post‑war North Korea. As Louisa grows, the novel shifts perspectives, exploring family grief, memory, and the ways history shapes identity. The narrative weaves together themes of loss, diaspora, and the search for truth, delivering a heart‑gripping investigation of a family’s catastrophe.