“Already a highly acclaimed short story author in her native South Korea, the sky is the limit for Lee Yuri, whose debut novel CLOUD PEOPLE will announce her as a major voice in global literature. Told with a distinctive, highly original voice, this is a speculative-dystopian novel with a hearty helping of social critique, as Lee examines environmental precarity, displacement, marginalization and inequity, the exploitative heart of capitalism, and domestic abuse. We are on cloud nine to have CLOUD PEOPLE join the HarperVia list, and are excited to introduce English readers to a world-class talent.” –acquiring editor Alexa Frank, HarperOne Group
"I was struck by this title already during my meetings in Seoul for the LTI Korea Fellowship, and my enthusiasm only grew once I was finally able to read the material. Having personally been to Korea, and to Seoul in particular, allowed me to immerse myself in the novel’s world in a very immediate way. The power of Lee Yuri’s voice, so original, direct, and disruptive, is truly remarkable, and the themes she explores are universal and deeply relatable for readers here as well. I’ve been building a strong list of Asian authors that both I and the publishing house are deeply invested in: Sohn Won-pyung, Choi Eunyoung, Kang Jiyoung, Lee Heejo, and Un-su Kim are some of the names I’ve been bringing to Italian readers, and I would be absolutely thrilled to see Lee Yuri among them." –acquiring editor Ilaria Marzi, HarperCollins Italy
A very familiar story. However, depending on where it is twisted, its power changes. The joy, or perhaps the pain, of reading Lee Yuri's novel lies here. – Kim In-sook, author of The Birch Forest
This novel is a thorough realist work clad in the guise of allegory. However, this is a peculiar realism that does not dwell on the reality of the Cloud People but rather makes one intensely curious about their causes by showing their consequences.... Cloud People heralds the emergence of a new genre. – Jeong Myeong-gyo, literary critic
The human dwelling realm is not water or the sky, but the earth. It is a physical and concrete space where one can stand. Clouds are not places where humans can live. Therefore, Lee Yuri's novel, in which the protagonists are people living above the clouds, is a story that tells the impossible. No, it is a novel premised on an era where the impossible has become possible.... The premise of this novel is not technological progress, but the abyss reached by the greed of capitalism. The elements and conditions that define humanity are changing, being added, or being deleted. Phenomena, claims, behaviors, and people that are difficult to accept by existing standards are appearing before our eyes.... I saw this novel as opening a path for such contemplation in a unique way. - Lee Seung-U, author of Buoyancy of the Heart
Longlisted for the 57th Dong-In Literary Prize
Over 9,000 copies sold
“I was born above the clouds.”
The most dazzling perspective on the tragedy of capitalism,
a story of the lowest beginning at the highest point.
Cloud People follows Ha-nul, a young woman born into skybound slums supported on a cloud that floats 1.5 kilometres above the ground. What used to be white, weightless masses against a backdrop of blue sky have turned into poisonous, pink eyesores that are dense enough to support the luckless families that call the clouds home. Life on the clouds is marked by poverty, instability, and disdain from the “ground people,” who consider the cloud dwellers dangerous and inferior. Rumors circulate that the authorities will release seeding particles into Ha-nul’s cloud to create artificial rain, which would cause the cloud to melt and destroy homes and lives. Even as Ha-nul and her cloud neighbors fret over rumors of the artificial rain that constantly loom over their existence, they are unsure how to create actual change. Daily survival, from securing food to earning wages, overshadows even impending annihilation.
Through fragmented vignettes, Ha-nul observes her father’s grueling construction work, her mother’s endless cleaning jobs, her brother’s naïve dreams of escaping through technology and fame, the fleeting moments of connection shared with her only friend and fellow cloud inhabitant Won, and the quiet presence of Won’s grandmother Madam Chun, who faithfully operates the pulley system connecting the cloud to the ground. The novel contrasts these struggles with glimpses of bitter humor and tenderness, even as Ha-nul is forced to relinquish all that she knows and accept the terms of an unforgiving reality until an expected turn of events upends her life.