First published 2013
Yun answers a phone call that shatters eight years of quiet. The voice on the other end floods her mind with memories of her university days in Seoul, when she was a lonely young student navigating the city alone. Her solitude ended when she met two other students who would change everything. The young man carried himself with determination, while his girlfriend worked constantly to hide her burned hands and conceal the wounds from her recent past. All three bore the weight of painful family histories, each marked by loss and isolation. They found refuge in each other's company, drawn together not only by their shared struggles but by their mutual respect for their aging literature professor. Their bond formed around books and conversations, creating a sanctuary from their individual traumas. Now, years later, that single phone call forces Yun to confront what those relationships meant and what became of the people who once sheltered each other from loneliness.
Genres: literary-fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Seoul
Period: Contemporary
320 pages · Paperback · Grijalbo Mondadori S.A
Content warnings: depression, mental-illness