Author: Jeong You-jeong
Translated by: Brother Anthony of Taizé
Publisher: Honford Star, expected Sep 2026
Original title: 진이, 지니, 2019
Link to online store *
Jin-yi devotes her life to the study of primates. One evening, she helps rescue a bonobo who has escaped from a burning villa. While holding her on her lap in the car taking them back to the Primate Study Center, an accident throws her through the windshield and a strange fusion takes place: while her body is taken to the hospital, between life and death, Jin-yi’s spirit takes refuge in the body of the little bonobo. Thus begins a fascinating coexistence between these two beings.
The novelist delivers a captivating story that keeps us on the edge of our seats from beginning to end. But the true originality of her novel lies in shifting the boundaries between human and animal by introducing us to the world and sensitivity of bonobos.
A moving dialogue on the desire to live and death, on the fairer connections we want to establish with other living beings as well as with ourselves.
Source: agent’s social media post