Author: Her Tae Yeon
Translated by: Shanna Tan
Publisher: John Murray, 2025
Original title: 하쿠다 사진관, 2022
Link to online store *
Have you ever been on a summer holiday so good you never want to go home again?
Jebi is tired of noisy, crowded Seoul and her dull job at a photography studio in the city. When she sees a billboard on her commute showing beautiful Jeju Island, she decides to quit her job and spend a summer there. On the last day of her trip, when she’s due to fly back to her real life, she loses everything: phone, credit cards, plane ticket. Wandering through a fishing village, she stumbles across a tiny photo studio.
Staying to work there, she meets and photographs a young couple who are about to get married, an elderly ex-cop haunted by questions from his past, and the Jeju haenyeos, a group of local women freedivers who gather sea urchins. The photos Jebi takes capture the magic of the island and its people.
LKL says:
A novel within the popular healing fiction genre, with the bonus of authentic content relating to Jeju customs, countryside, dialect and culture.
LKL rating: 
External links:
- Review by Paul Fulcher (PF rating: ).
- Entry on Goodreads.com.
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