Their love is against the laws of a merciless state—but the heart has its own power.
For rollercoaster designer Theo, living on the edge is just part of the job. He’s used to wandering the world perfecting thrills, his heart immune to commitment. But then a commission in repressive North Korea exposes him to emotions he’s never dared to feel.
Tour guide Min has a soul that wants to soar, but she knows it’s safer to build walls around her heart and mind. Skilled in showcasing the mesmerising beauty of capital city Pyongyang without revealing its darker secrets, she introduces Theo to a country he will never forget—and begins to question her policy of quiet compliance.
But forgetting—or pretending to—is the key to survival for Min’s formidable grandmother Cuckoo. After a devastating heartbreak years ago, she learned that passion and oppression just don’t mix.
As Min and Theo grow closer and long-held secrets come to light, all three are forced to confront emotions they’ve tried to suppress. In a country where following their hearts will put them in danger, how much are they willing to risk?
Maybe it was because I am stuck at home rather than being able to dust off my travelling bags and head off to explore somewhere unfamiliar and exotic that I’m getting so much pleasure from travelling through the books that I’m choosing of late. I can’t stop reaching for fiction set in other countries this summer, and this is one of the best books I’ve read in this genre this year.
I was absolutely intrigued by the premise of this book and quickly became drawn in to this tale of Theo and his adventures in Pnongyang and his rollercoaster of an adventure. I was delighted to be invited on the tour by Rhiannon from F McM and found myself absolutely intrigued by this fasciniting insight into this setting and the story that unfolded through its pages of an intriguing city and the characters that live and loved there…
This book whisked me off to this stunning location where we become wholly wrapped up in the story of Theo, Min and Cuckoo The fact that they live in completely different versions of the city and come from very different cultures and eras made for fascinating reading and it was so interesting to see the culture of Korea come to life as we travel to Pnongyang and see a very different perspective from life within the UK. I found this so fasinating and this really added to the story for me. It’s a book that you’ll find hard to believe it’s fiction as you’ll become so caught up in these characters stories As an outsider, Theo has a different perspective on the emergence of Juceland and his experience as a designer means that he is an evaluative and analytical mind who shows us the ups and downs of life there from an outsider’s point of view and it is where the writing truly shines as we get to see the streets, the people, the buildings and the sights spring to life in stunningly vivid prose that makes you feel like you could be there right alongside these characters.
I absolutely loved the unique atmosphere of this novel and definitely found it quite addictive. It was intriguing to imagine a world in which your choices and next direction are far more constrained than we experience here in Scotland . I thought the contrasts between the Min and Cuckoo’s eras were really well delineated and we get a sense of the changes that are happening in Korea and how the country is evolving in terms of the landscape but also culturally and socially. I really want to visit Korea now and walk in their footsteps and can imagine the sights and sounds perfectly, even though they are so different from rural Dunblane…
This novel presents their story in a fresh original way which makes you feel like you understand each of these characters’ perspectives equally. It has made me determined to read more fiction set in Korea tounderstand this unique culture in more detail which will feel a bit like vicariously travelling. Cuckoo feels very much like a real person, despite the distance of time and space between us and you feel really caught up in her story. This is a really unique novel which has to be experienced to truly realise how special it is. I’d love to see it on the silver screen and see this fascinating tale unfold in such a remarkable setting – you can bathe your senses in it as you read and feel the sights sounds and atmosphere of Korea wash over you
Boris Starling is certainly a talented writer – and I really enjoyed researching more about Pnongyang online after I’d finished reading the book as he vividly brought it to life for me. You will be fascinated to uncover all that is going on beneath the surface and I defy anyone to finish this book and not want to read more by this writer immediately.Your relationship with the characters builds and builds as you experience the secrets and unspoken things that they hide and you will be absolutely caught up in their lives, loves and fall for their impossible love story
This is a book that I know I’ll be recommending to lots of readers as I was totally immersed in its characters, its stunning sense of place and the way it really allowed me to connect with its characters. I think that this would make an excellent Book Group read as it would be sure to provoke lots and lots of discussion about a nation and culture that most people don’t know very much about…
Treat yourself to a copy and discover this epic and fascinating story for yourself
“A heartbreaking yet life-affirming story of forbidden love woven through the extraordinary backdrop of North Korea. I loved everything about it.” —Clare Pooley, author of The Authenticity Project
From the Publisher
Only once in a blue moon does a novel come around that blows you away and holds you close. It is the best (and rarest) of feelings, and I have to confess that it happened to me the first time I read The Law of the Heart. Boris Starling delivers a debut that not only immerses you in North Korea and the cultural mores of the people who live there, but connects their experience and emotions to your very soul.
Min and Theo should never have met, but when Theo arrives in Pyongyang to design rollercoasters, Min is his tour guide. Her task is to show this foreigner only the very best North Korea has to offer—and hide the darker side of life in the capital city. To survive in the shadows of the regime is to say only what is approved, but as Min and Theo grow closer, she begins to question the true cost of her silence and whether it is time to finally speak.
If you are doubting the world right now, this is the perfect novel to remind you that true beauty exists all around us, that life can change in the blink of an eye, that meeting one person or making one decision can alter your destiny. This novel reminded me that hope exists even when all seems dark, so whether you are looking to lose yourself in beautiful prose or find solace in the pages of a book, The Law of the Heart is guaranteed to leave you smiling.
– Victoria Oundjian, Editor
Writer On The Shelf
Boris Starling’s writing career began at the age of eight, when his English teacher spotted that his short story was (a) unusually good for a child his age (b) copied verbatim from Tintin’s ‘Prisoners Of The Sun.’ (That was also the first time he learnt the word ‘verbatim’, not to mention the term ‘copyright violation’.)
All his work since then has been strictly his own. He has written eight novels, including Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers. Five appear under his own name (Messiah, Storm, Vodka, Visibility and, in a daring breakout from one-word titles, The Stay-Behind Cave) and three as Daniel Blake (Soul Murder (UK)/Thou Shalt Kill (US), City Of Sins (UK)/City Of The Dead (US) and White Death). Every one of these books features someone dying horribly somewhere along the way. Sometimes they even deserve it.
Boris also created the ‘Messiah’ franchise which ran for seven years on BBC1, and has written screenplays for productions in the UK and US.
He has inherited his grandfather’s male pattern baldness, but sadly not his prodigious height. He is a keen sportsman, though he has now reached the age where enthusiasm and experience are beginning to trump sheer skill. He lives in Dorset, England, with his wife, children, greyhounds, and however many chickens manage to keep clear of marauding foxes.
On The Shelf Books 