London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

LKL book database logo

On the Balance Beam

Author:
Translated by:
Publisher: , expected Nov 2026
Link to online store *

Once Ko Mani dreamt of becoming a professional gymnast. Life, however, had other plans for her. Today she has an office job and lives with her parents in the same house and poor part of Seoul in which she grew up.

When she unexpectedly finds herself out of work, however, her old ambitions resurface. At the same time property developers start to show an interest in the local area and her mother sniffs an opportunity for her family to finally slip the chains of poverty.

Exploring the fine line we all tread between dreams and reality, in On the Balance Beam Cho Nam-Joo tells the story of an ordinary Korean family, capturing their moments of pain, frustration, resilience and love.

Source: publisher’s website

External links:

* Where the book is available from a number of sources, they are prioritised as follows: (1) Amazon UK site, or Bookshop.org for the more recent uploads (2) Amazon US site (3) Other sites in US or Europe, including second-hand outlets (4) LTI Korea, where the title is advertised as available from there (5) Onlines stores in Korea. Links to Bookshop.org and Amazon UK site contain an affiliate code which, should you make a purchase, gives a small commission to LKL at no additional cost to you.