Author: Hwang Bo-reum
Translated by: Shanna Tan
Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2023
Original title: 어서 오세요, 휴남동 서점입니다, 2022
Link to online store *
There was only one thing on her mind.
I must start a bookshop.
Yeong-ju did everything she was supposed to, go to university, marry a decent man, get a respectable job. Then it all fell apart. Burned out, Yeong-ju abandons her old life, quits her high-flying career, divorces her husband, and follows her dream. She opens a bookshop.
In a quaint neighbourhood in Seoul, surrounded by books, Yeong-ju and her customers take refuge. From the lonely barista to the unhappily married housewife, and the writer who sees something special in Yeong-ju – they all have disappointments in their past. The Hyunam-Dong Bookshop becomes the place where they all learn how to truly live.
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is a heart-warming story about finding comfort and acceptance in your life – and the healing power of books.
Source: publisher’s website
LKL says:
This is probably the first of the “let’s de-stress and care about ourselves more” Korean novels to make it into English and so is worth reading for that reason. It’s a comforting read, celebrating the joys of a good book, a good cup of coffee, and of human relationships, and it won’t detain you for long.
LKL rating: 
External links:
- Review by Paul Fulcher (PF rating: ).
- Entry on Goodreads.com.
* Where the book is available from a number of sources, they are prioritised as follows: (1) Amazon UK site, or Bookshop.org for the more recent uploads (2) Amazon US site (3) Other sites in US or Europe, including second-hand outlets (4) LTI Korea, where the title is advertised as available from there (5) Onlines stores in Korea. Links to Bookshop.org and Amazon UK site contain an affiliate code which, should you make a purchase, gives a small commission to LKL at no additional cost to you.