Korean-American novelist wins LA Times book prize

By Yi Whan-woo

A Korean-American writer has won a book prize from the Los Angeles Times with her latest novel inspired by the racial tension between Korean immigrants and African-American communities during the 1992 LA riots.

Steph Cha

Golden Bough, a Seoul-based publishing house, said this week Steph Cha won in the mystery and thriller category ― one of 12 prize categories ― in the newspaper's 40th annual Book Prizes with her novel, “Your House Will Pay.”

Golden Bough said it plans to publish the Korean translation of Cha's fiction at end of this year.

Published in October 2019, “Your House Will Pay” is about Grace Park, a Korean-American, and Shawn Matthews, an African-American, and their families who are forced to face down their shared history when a crime in the wake of the LA riots hits the city.

Cha has created a fictional story related to the true story of Korean-born storekeeper Du Soon-ja and African-American Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old who was shot dead in 1991 by the former for allegedly trying to steal a bottle of orange juice.

Du was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and later received no jail time.

The incident fueled tensions between the two racial groups, on the heels of the Rodney King verdict that African-Americans in LA found to be unjustly in favor of the police officers and sparked the riots.

Cha is also author of “Follow Her Home,” “Beware Beware,” and “Dead Soon Enough.” The contemporary noir mystery series is set in LA and features Juniper Song, an amateur detective with razor-sharp wit.

Cha is a native of the San Fernando Valley in California.

She studied English and East Asian studies at Stanford University. She also went to Yale Law School.