Sunme Yoon Books

WALL STREET JOURNAL STORIES THAT CAN TAKE YOU ANYWHERE PICK * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY'S STAY HOME AND READ PICK * SALON'S BEST AND BOLDEST * BUSTLE'S MOST ANTICIPATED This poignant story explores how love, friendship, and persistence can transform a life. It centers on Yunjae, who has Alexithymia, a brain condition that hinders his ability to feel emotions like fear or anger. Lacking friends, he finds solace in his devoted mother and grandmother, who create a nurturing environment in their home above a used bookstore, filled with colorful Post-it notes guiding his social interactions. However, on Christmas Eve, Yunjae's sixteenth birthday, a shocking act of violence alters his life forever, leaving him isolated and struggling with his grief. His world shifts when troubled teenager Gon arrives at his school, leading to an unexpected friendship. As Yunjae begins to engage with others, including a girl at school, he experiences gradual internal change. When Gon faces a life-threatening situation, Yunjae is pushed to step beyond his comfort zones and discover the hero within himself. This resonant tale will resonate with readers of Wonder and Ginny Moon, showcasing Yunjae's journey toward courage and self-discovery. Translated from the Korean by Sandy Joosun Lee.

Yeong-hye and her husband are ordinary people. He is an office worker with moderate ambitions and mild manners; she is an uninspired but dutiful wife. The acceptable flatline of their marriage is interrupted when Yeong-hye, seeking a more 'plant-like' existence, decides to become a vegetarian, prompted by grotesque recurring nightmares. In South Korea, where vegetarianism is almost unheard-of and societal mores are strictly obeyed, Yeong-hye's decision is a shocking act of subversion. Her passive rebellion manifests in ever more bizarre and frightening forms, leading her bland husband to self-justified acts of sexual sadism. His cruelties drive her towards attempted suicide and hospitalisation. She unknowingly captivates her sister's husband, a video artist. She becomes the focus of his increasingly erotic and unhinged artworks, while spiralling further and further into her fantasies of abandoning her fleshly prison and becoming - impossibly, ecstatically - a tree.Fraught, disturbing and beautiful, The Vegetarian is a novel about modern day South Korea, but also a novel about shame, desire and our faltering attempts to understand others, from one imprisoned body to another.