Seven Years of Darkness

Chon Ючжон’s novel “A Seven-Year Night” is a global bestseller and one of her most popular works.

The plot of the novel also served as the basis for a film—an action-packed thriller that received international recognition.

“Seven-Year Night” tells the story of a young man named Совон, who tries to make sense of the events of one fateful night that happened seven years ago.

Hyunsu, Sovon’s father, in the past was a successful player of a popular baseball team, but a serious neurological illness ended his career. That night, while drunk—because he drinks constantly—on the way home he drives over a little girl with his car. As he sinks deeper into alcohol’s haze with each day, trying to forget this drama and his ruined life, he will nonetheless have to face a threat: his son is being pursued by the father of the girl who died—a cruel, depraved man consumed by a thirst for revenge… This is a duel between two men, presented in the best traditions of the thriller genre—the genre that brought international fame to Korean cinema.

Thanks to sharp shifts in plans and the alternation of light and darkness, we see the characters of the two fathers: each of them in turn becomes either an executioner or a victim, under conditions of extreme tension. In a rapid rhythm that takes your breath away, the author of the novel Chon Ючжон leads the listener to an unexpected climax, concluding a night that lasts—terribly—an entire seven years.