Flashlight

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN ’ S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025 FINALIST FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2026 A moment is all it takes to shatter a family. The echoes last a lifetime... ‘Ferociously smart and full of surprises’ Eleanor Catton ‘Engrossing... Full of brains and mystery’ Telegraph One evening, ten-year-old Louisa and her father, Serk, take a walk out on the breakwater. They are spending the summer in a coastal Japanese town. Hours later, Louisa wakes on the beach, soaked to the skin. Her father is missing: presumably drowned. This sudden event shatters their small family. As Louisa and her American mother return to the US, Serk's disappearance reverberates across time and space, and the mystery of what really happened that night slowly unravels. A Book of the Year for the Guardian , Time , New Yorker , Esquire , Vanity Fair , FT and Barack Obama ‘ Big, bold and surprising’ Guardian ‘ Illuminates the buried secrets of the human heart ’ Oprah Daily ‘ Gorgeous... Almost impossibly heartbreaking ’ New York Magazine ‘ It will make your head spin in the best way ’ Dakota Johnson ‘ Endlessly dazzling ’ Vogue READERS LOVE FLASHLIGHT ‘ Compelling, fascinating, original. Read this book’ ‘Five stars. Heartbreaking’ ‘A beautifully written story of a family across decades’ ‘I loved it - the best read in years. Glorious’ ‘Absolutely brilliant’

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN ’ S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025 FINALIST FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2026 A moment is all it takes to shatter a family. The echoes last a lifetime... ‘Ferociously smart and full of surprises’ Eleanor Catton ‘Engrossing... Full of brains and mystery’ Telegraph One evening, ten-year-old Louisa and her father, Serk, take a walk out on the breakwater. They are spending the summer in a coastal Japanese town. Hours later, Louisa wakes on the beach, soaked to the skin. Her father is missing: presumably drowned. This sudden event shatters their small family. As Louisa and her American mother return to the US, Serk's disappearance reverberates across time and space, and the mystery of what really happened that night slowly unravels. A Book of the Year for the Guardian , Time , New Yorker , Esquire , Vanity Fair , FT and Barack Obama ‘ Big, bold and surprising’ Guardian ‘ Illuminates the buried secrets of the human heart ’ Oprah Daily ‘ Gorgeous... Almost impossibly heartbreaking ’ New York Magazine ‘ It will make your head spin in the best way ’ Dakota Johnson ‘ Endlessly dazzling ’ Vogue READERS LOVE FLASHLIGHT ‘ Compelling, fascinating, original. Read this book’ ‘Five stars. Heartbreaking’ ‘A beautifully written story of a family across decades’ ‘I loved it - the best read in years. Glorious’ ‘Absolutely brilliant’

Brought to you by Penguin.SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026A moment is all it takes to shatter a family. The echoes last a lifetime...One evening, ten-year-old Louisa and her father, Serk, take a walk out on the breakwater. They are spending the summer in a coastal Japanese town. Hours later, Louisa wakes on the beach, soaked to the skin. Her father is missing: presumably drowned.This sudden event shatters their small family. As Louisa and her American mother return to the US, Serk's disappearance reverberates across time and space, and the mystery of what really happened that night slowly unravels.'Ferociously smart and full of surprises' Eleanor Catton'A family epic... Engrossing' Telegraph'Big, bold and surprising' Guardian'Gorgeous... Almost impossibly heartbreaking' New York Magazine'Illuminates the buried secrets of the human heart' Oprah Daily(C) Susan Choi 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Brought to you by Penguin.SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026A moment is all it takes to shatter a family. The echoes last a lifetime...One evening, ten-year-old Louisa and her father, Serk, take a walk out on the breakwater. They are spending the summer in a coastal Japanese town. Hours later, Louisa wakes on the beach, soaked to the skin. Her father is missing: presumably drowned.This sudden event shatters their small family. As Louisa and her American mother return to the US, Serk's disappearance reverberates across time and space, and the mystery of what really happened that night slowly unravels.'Ferociously smart and full of surprises' Eleanor Catton'A family epic... Engrossing' Telegraph'Big, bold and surprising' Guardian'Gorgeous... Almost impossibly heartbreaking' New York Magazine'Illuminates the buried secrets of the human heart' Oprah Daily(C) Susan Choi 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Inside a tent it's cozy. But what is going on outside? Is it dark? Is it scary? Not if you have your trusty flashlight! Told solely through images and using a spare yet dramatic palette, artist Lizi Boyd has crafted a masterful exploration of night, nature, and art. Both lyrical and humorous, this visual poem-like the flashlight beam itself-reveals that there is magic in the darkness. We just have to look for it.

Inside a tent it's cozy. But what is going on outside? Is it dark? Is it scary? Not if you have your trusty flashlight! Told solely through images and using a spare yet dramatic palette, artist Lizi Boyd has crafted a masterful exploration of night, nature, and art. Both lyrical and humorous, this visual poem-like the flashlight beam itself-reveals that there is magic in the darkness. We just have to look for it.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025 WATERSTONES FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026 A moment is all it takes to shatter a family. The echoes last a lifetime... ‘Ferociously smart and full of surprises’ Eleanor Catton ‘Engrossing... Full of brains and mystery’ Telegraph One evening, ten-year-old Louisa and her father, Serk, take a walk out on the breakwater. They are spending the summer in a coastal Japanese town. Hours later, Louisa wakes on the beach, soaked to the skin. Her father is missing: presumably drowned. This sudden event shatters their small family. As Louisa and her American mother return to the US, Serk's disappearance reverberates across time and space, and the mystery of what really happened that night slowly unravels. A Book of the Year for the Guardian , Time , New Yorker , Esquire , Vanity Fair , FT and Barack Obama 'Big, bold and surprising’ Guardian 'Illuminates the buried secrets of the human heart' Oprah Daily 'Gorgeous... Almost impossibly heartbreaking' New York Magazine 'It will make your head spin in the best way' Dakota Johnson 'Endlessly dazzling' Vogue READERS LOVE FLASHLIGHT 'Compelling, fascinating, original. Read this book' 'Five stars. Heartbreaking' 'A beautifully written story of a family across decades' 'I loved it - the best read in years. Glorious' 'Absolutely brilliant'

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025 WATERSTONES FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026 A moment is all it takes to shatter a family. The echoes last a lifetime... ‘Ferociously smart and full of surprises’ Eleanor Catton ‘Engrossing... Full of brains and mystery’ Telegraph One evening, ten-year-old Louisa and her father, Serk, take a walk out on the breakwater. They are spending the summer in a coastal Japanese town. Hours later, Louisa wakes on the beach, soaked to the skin. Her father is missing: presumably drowned. This sudden event shatters their small family. As Louisa and her American mother return to the US, Serk's disappearance reverberates across time and space, and the mystery of what really happened that night slowly unravels. A Book of the Year for the Guardian , Time , New Yorker , Esquire , Vanity Fair , FT and Barack Obama 'Big, bold and surprising’ Guardian 'Illuminates the buried secrets of the human heart' Oprah Daily 'Gorgeous... Almost impossibly heartbreaking' New York Magazine 'It will make your head spin in the best way' Dakota Johnson 'Endlessly dazzling' Vogue READERS LOVE FLASHLIGHT 'Compelling, fascinating, original. Read this book' 'Five stars. Heartbreaking' 'A beautifully written story of a family across decades' 'I loved it - the best read in years. Glorious' 'Absolutely brilliant'

A Most Anticipated Book of the Year: Time , The Washington Post , and Literary Hub A novel tracing a father's disappearance across time, nations, and memory, from the author of Trust Exercise . One night, Louisa and her father take a walk on the beach. He's carrying a flashlight. He cannot swim. Later Louisa is found washed up by the tide, barely alive. Her father is gone. She is ten years old. In chapters that shift from one member to the next, turning back again and again to that night by the sea, Susan Choi's Flashlight chases the shockwaves of one family's catastrophe. Louisa is an only child of parents who have severed themselves from the past. Her father, Serk, an ethnic Korean born and raised in Japan, lost touch with his family when they bought into the promises of postwar Pyongyang and relocated to the DPRK. Her American mother, Anne, is estranged from her family after a reckless adventure in her youth. And then there is Tobias, Anne's illegitimate son, whose reappearance in their lives will have astonishing consequences. What really happened to Louisa's father? Why did he take Louisa and her mother to Japan just before he disappeared? And how can we love, or make sense of our lives, when there's so much we can't see?

A Most Anticipated Book of the Year: Time , The Washington Post , and Literary Hub A novel tracing a father's disappearance across time, nations, and memory, from the author of Trust Exercise . One night, Louisa and her father take a walk on the beach. He's carrying a flashlight. He cannot swim. Later Louisa is found washed up by the tide, barely alive. Her father is gone. She is ten years old. In chapters that shift from one member to the next, turning back again and again to that night by the sea, Susan Choi's Flashlight chases the shockwaves of one family's catastrophe. Louisa is an only child of parents who have severed themselves from the past. Her father, Serk, an ethnic Korean born and raised in Japan, lost touch with his family when they bought into the promises of postwar Pyongyang and relocated to the DPRK. Her American mother, Anne, is estranged from her family after a reckless adventure in her youth. And then there is Tobias, Anne's illegitimate son, whose reappearance in their lives will have astonishing consequences. What really happened to Louisa's father? Why did he take Louisa and her mother to Japan just before he disappeared? And how can we love, or make sense of our lives, when there's so much we can't see?