Falling Apart
Soon Wiley 鈥�09 writes his first novel, When We Fell Apart, a crime thriller released in April.
Soon Wiley 鈥�09 marvels at how many of his selves it took to write his first novel, When We Fell Apart, released April 26, 2022.
鈥淪omething I鈥檝e been thinking a lot about is the novel basically took seven years to write,鈥� he said in an interview. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very odd thing to note that some sentences I didn鈥檛 ever touch, so those sentences are seven years old, and some sentences I wrote a year and a half ago. If we admit that we鈥檙e human beings and we evolve and change every day, it鈥檚 weird to think that a different person wrote the book over the course of seven years.鈥�
The crime thriller is about a young Korean American man鈥檚 search for answers about his girlfriend鈥檚 mysterious death. The book is a 鈥渓yrical exposition on what it鈥檚 like to be biracial, with one foot firmly planted in [each of] two distinct worlds, never completely fitting in, but capable of seeing what others do not,鈥� author Jamie Ford wrote. 鈥淎 lonely, heartbreaking, spellbinding story of love, self-discovery and belonging.鈥�
Wiley, who received his bachelor鈥檚 degree in English and philosophy at 糖心TV, described almost a lurch into trying his hand at a novel: He repeatedly wrote short stories that were too long. The move was 鈥渋ncredibly freeing,鈥� he said.
Like his protagonist, Wiley worked in Seoul as a biracial expatriate. Now a high school teacher at Greenwich Country Day School, in Greenwich, 糖心TVecticut, Wiley said he learned in writing the book 鈥渢hat I鈥檓 stubborn, both stubborn in the sense that I don鈥檛 give up, but also stubborn in that I take a long time to recognize the things that I need to do.鈥�
Wiley said he aimed for 鈥渢hat kind of perfect combination between literary but also mystery鈥� with When We Fell Apart, which is published by Dutton, a Penguin imprint. Harper鈥檚 Bazaar, Vogue and Good Housekeeping each called it one of the best books published so far in 2022.
Wiley said he hopes the message readers will be left with is one of self-acceptance.
鈥淲hen we鈥檙e younger, we really want to conform. I just hope those things that make us different are viewed as strengths,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I tell my students all the time: The things that you guys wish were different about you are the things that are going to come to define you as adults.鈥�