Author: Kang Hwa-gil
Translated by: Mattho Mandersloot
Publisher: Strangers Press, 2019
Link to online store *
Set in a small rural village, seemingly everyday events take on a macabre meaning. We follow Kim Miyoung, a relatively new villager and the local primary school teacher, as she is slowly overcome by anxiety, with her daughter at the vulnerable young age of three, a difficult group of schoolboys under her wing and her mother-in-law trying to drag her into house-of-cards village politics. To top it all, she finds herself plagued by the idea of ‘son’: folklore spirits out to make people’s lives miserable. As the village gathers for the annual meju-making day, amid all the hubbub, Miyoung loses sight of her daughter Mina. Despite her cries for help, no one joins her to look for Mina, everyone seems to be against her.
External links:
- Review by Paul Fulcher (PF rating:
). - Review by Tony Malone.
- Entry on Goodreads.com.
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