Warning: this review contains mild spoilers.
Happy winter, everyone! With the holidays fast approaching and the weather getting colder, it’s the perfect time for curling up inside with some tea (or coffee if that’s your bag) and a good book. If you’re looking for a cozy read to get lost in this December, I’ve got one for you from South Korea.
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is a 2022 slice-of-life novel written by Hwang Bo-Reum with English translation by Shanna Tan. The story follows Yeongju, a former career woman who abandons her old life to pursue her dream of opening a bookshop. As she finds her way forward on this new path, her bookshop becomes an unexpected place of hope and healing for her community, including herself.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this book when I started reading it. The first few chapters all follow a somewhat repetitive structure of “character x thought about their life before coming to the bookshop, when they were dealing with problem y.” In my opinion, hindsight isn’t the most compelling way to show a character overcoming their struggles. I did read this book in English, however, so I acknowledge that this may have been an issue of the author’s voice getting lost in translation.
I was worried the entire book would be written in this way, but after the first chapters, the story starts to move forward and become genuinely engaging. A big part of that comes from how down-to-earth and authentic it feels. Instead of undergoing grand, self-actualizing transformations, the characters take small steps toward happiness as they learn what they want and don’t want from life. There’s no villain or antagonist, just people dealing with real problems like depression, bad marriages, self-loathing, and personal and professional dissatisfaction. It’s a simple story, but this also helps make the book easily digestible. Whenever I had time between classes or before bed, I could pop it open and breeze through another chapter.
Something else I found interesting about this book was the perspective it’s written from. Unlike most contemporary slice-of-life I come across, where the characters are high school or college students, the majority of this book’s characters are in their 30s or 40s. In fact, there’s only one notable younger character; Mincheol, a high school student struggling with a lack of ambition. I enjoyed this more grounded, mature perspective that comes with following the lives of older characters, where emotions don’t run melodramatically high and breakups aren’t treated like the end of the world. If you enjoy shows like Netflix’s Aggretsuko or books like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, chances are you’ll get a kick out of this book, too.
On the topic of perspective, let’s talk about the characters. The novel is driven by the people frequenting Yeongju’s life, both in and out of the bookshop. Some of my personal favorites were Jimi, a slightly unhinged coffee supplier stuck in a decaying marriage, and Minjun, a barista who struggles to reconcile his current life with his plan to join the “rat race” after graduating from college. I found Minjun’s story in particular to be relatable as someone who dreads the thought of spending my life in a job I hate. It’s a nice reminder that there’s nothing wrong with a simple life, despite society viewing it as less impressive. Even the bookshop feels like a character, slowly growing from an empty shell to a warm and ever-evolving constant in the narrative.
Of course, the most important character is Yeongju, someone who, despite the steps she takes towards healing, struggles to let go of the past and allow herself to be happy. This is compounded when figures from her past literally begin to visit the bookshop, reminding her of the mistakes she made in her youth when she impulsively left her husband and old job behind. Her arc is a poignant lesson both in learning to forgive yourself and learning that you don’t always have to forgive others. I rooted for her, especially in her budding relationship with Seungwoo, a writer who takes a sudden interest in her. I won’t lie, although I found these two cute together, their romance puts the “slow” in slow burn to the point where I was sometimes shouting “JUST KISS ALREADY!” at the page.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The book instead leaves them off on a note of “maybe one day they’ll become something more,” so take that as you will. Even though the story did not end on a definite conclusion for Yeongju and Seungwoo, I was still left satisfied by the ending. I loved seeing how much this quirky found family had managed to grow with each other’s support. We don’t always need to have all the answers, this book tells you. Sometimes, the present moment is enough. If you’re on the lookout for a sweet, easy read, I’d highly recommend giving this book a try.