A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick • A Most Anticipated Read in LitHub, CrimeReads, Thrillist, and Popsugar
The kinetic story of a sixty-five-year-old female assassin who faces an unexpected threat in the twilight of her career—The Old Woman with the Knife is an international bestseller and the English language debut from an award-winning South Korean author Gu Byeong-mo.
At sixty-five, Hornclaw is beginning to slow down. She lives modestly in a small apartment, with only her aging dog, a rescue named Deadweight, to keep her company. There are expectations for people her age—that she'll retire and live out the rest of her days quietly. But Hornclaw is not like other people. She is an assassin.
Double-crossers, corporate enemies, cheating spouses—for the past four decades, Hornclaw has killed them all with ruthless efficiency, and the less she knows about her targets, the better. But now, nearing the end of her career, she has just slipped up. An injury leads her to an unexpected connection with a doctor and his family. But emotions, for an assassin, are a dangerous proposition. As Hornclaw's world closes in, this final chapter in her career may also mark her own bloody end.
A sensation in South Korea, and now translated into English for the first time by Chi-Young Kim, The Old Woman with the Knife is an electrifying, singular, mordantly funny novel about the expectations imposed on aging bodies and the dramatic ways in which one woman chooses to reclaim her agency.
In this episode of Author Talks,Gu Byeong-mo discusses her career in Korea and her English debut.
"A resonant K-noir treat."—Luke Jennings, author of the Killing Eve series
“Darkly funny, this South Korean novel examines the universal challenge of aging while maintaining societal relevance.”—The Washington Post
"Skillfully rendered...a thriller with heart."—Kirkus Reviews
Tuesday, June 14, 2022 | 5 PM
The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017
About the Speaker:
Gu Byeong-mo is the bestselling author of nine novels and three short story collections. She has won many literary prizes in Korea, including the prestigious Today's Writer Award in 2015, and her novels have been translated into several languages, including Spanish and French. Born in Seoul, she now resides with her family in Jinju.
