Set in the leafy suburbs of Seoul, South Korea, Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop is the entrancing story of a young woman's curious decision to walk away from the trappings of her outwardly successful life and pursue her dream of opening a bookstore. Hwang Bo-reum's graceful, meditative debut novel, translated by Shanna Tan, introduces readers to an engaging cast of lost souls seeking answers to the central questions of their lives: What does it mean to live a contented life in a competitive culture? And can we achieve contentment if our decisions make others unhappy?
Yeongju and her spouse are ambitious, career-focused company employees. Their marriage is built on a foundation of respect for each other's work, but there is little emotional understanding between the couple. When Yeongju's feelings of suffocation and bewilderment at the meaningless of her life become too much to bear, she abandons her job and her husband to focus on the one thing that always bought her joy as a child: books. Clueless about running a business, she takes a desperate leap of faith and opens a bookshop and café in a quiet residential neighborhood without much foot traffic.
Like a fragile sapling placed in unfamiliar soil, Yeongju's business takes root in the neighborhood and grows despite itself, nurtured by a community of regulars for whom the bookstore becomes their escape from the pressures of everyday life. Yeongju's cozy space, with its magnetic charm, draws people inside, including a woman who sits for hours in the cafe, knitting the day away, and a distraught mother searching for a book "to unclog a smothered heart." Hwang's characters are a joy to encounter, including Minjun, the star-student-turned-barista; the disillusioned Mincheol, a young man searching for a new way of being in the world; and enigmatic Seungwoo, an author with romantic feelings for Yeongju. Yeongju, meanwhile, is haunted by the hurt she inflicted on her ex-husband.
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop is a gentle exploration of how the hamster wheel of corporate ambition can grind down a person. What Yeongju and her customers have in common is their decision to exist outside tightly prescribed cultural lines, rejecting societal expectations and family pressure. Hwang's is a soothing narrative voice, her novel a meditation on bookstores and the communities they foster, as well as an aspirational story of finding purpose when you think you might be ready to give up. --Shahina Piyarali, reviewer
Shelf Talker: A young woman abandons her corporate career to open a bookstore and café in this charming debut novel set in Seoul, South Korea.