Catherine Cho

Catherine Cho is a literary agent and the founder of Paper Literary. She is the author of the acclaimed memoir, Inferno, which was shortlisted for the Sunday Times' Young Writer of the Year Award, the Jhalak Prize, and a New York Times' Editor's Choice.

Her debut novel,The Devoted is publishing from Washington Square Press (Simon & Schuster) in the US and 4th Estate (HarperCollins) in the UK.

Originally from Kentucky, Catherine lives in London with her husband and two children.

The Devoted

'Quietly devastating yet hugely atmospheric, this novel offers all the thrills of a binge-worthy box set delivered in bravura prose'

SARA COLLINS, author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton

‘Beautiful … a stunning debut’ CHRISTIE WATSON, author of Moral Injuries

‘A thrilling, mesmerising tale of destiny and betrayal’ CECILE PIN, author of Celestial Lights

'Beautifully sinister, haunting, and instantly transportive. Reading this peeled back the streets of my Hong Kong childhood to reveal a shadow world that I've only ever known through whispered stories. I loved the desire and the danger that pulsed throughout.' FRANCES CHA, author of If I Had Your Face

AN ELLE MOST ANTICIPATED READ OF 2026.
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I made my plan. I would be the north stars: the decider of fate, of what was to come.

Eunha grows up in a quiet village in Hong Kong with little knowledge of the reputation of her father, a Dragon Head and the leader of a criminal organisation infamous in the city. While her grandmother does her best to shield her from the violence that underpins their lives, Eunha only has her brother Solomon and their one permitted companion, a boy named Kai, for company.

But when Eunha marries into a supposedly respectable Hong Kong family, the veneer of her sheltered life begins to crack. After her young son is kidnapped, she is cast back into the city’s criminal underground and into the orbit of Kai, now a Dragon Head himself. In this world, love and loyalty are stalked by fear and betrayal. Will Eunha finally give in to the life she has strived so hard to rise above or was her future always fated?

The Devoted is a beautifully written, unforgettable debut novel of love, family and betrayal from an electric new voice in fiction.

Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness

'A beautifully written account of postpartum psychosis, and the ties, blessings and burdens of family' - NIGELLA LAWSON

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD
A NEW YORK TIMES' EDITOR'S CHOICE
*Observer Book of the Week*
*A Guardian Memoir of the Year 2020*
*Harper's Bazaar 10 Women Who Will Shape What You Watch, See and Read in 2020*

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'Striking and original' -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, The Times

'Completely devastating. Completely heartbreaking' -- Daisy Johnson

Veers away from being a heart-warming tale of triumph over trauma; it lays out, with frightening clarity, the spiralling pressures of new motherhood and the unvarnished reality of mental breakdown ― Guardian, Best Autobiography and Memoir of 2020

A brilliantly frightening memoir about Cho's two weeks on the psychiatric ward, elegantly interwoven with tales from her past -- Lara Feigel, Guardian

Feels like an important piece of reportage about the condition as well as a gripping personal story -- Sebastian Faulks ― Spectator, Books of the Year
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