Violets

We join San in 1970s rural South Korea, a young girl ostracised from her community. She meets a girl called Namae, & they become friends until one afternoon changes everything. Following a moment of physical intimacy in a minari field, Namae violently rejects San, setting her on a troubling path of quashed desire & isolation.We next meet San, aged twenty-two, as she starts a job in a flower shop. There, we are introduced to a colourful cast of characters, including the shop's mute owner, the other florist Su-ae, & the customers that include a sexually aggressive businessman & a photographer, who San develops an obsession for. Throughout, San's moment with Namae lingers in the back of her mind.A story of desire & violence about a young woman who everyone forgot, VIOLETS is a captivating & sensual read, full of tragedy & beauty.°°°Kyung-Sook Shin is one of South Korea’s most widely read & acclaimed novelists. She has been awarded the Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, the Dong-in Literary Award, the Man Asian Literary Prize, & many others. Shin is the author of eight novels, eight short story collections, & three essay collections, including the New York Times bestseller Please Look After Mom, which has been published in more than forty countries.Anton Hur was double-longlisted & shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize & has worked on several of Kyung-Sook Shin’s books. He lives in Seoul. By Man Asian Literary Prize winner Kyung-Sook Shin, "a moving delve into a lonely psyche" that follows a neglected young woman's search for human connection in contemporary Seoul (YZ Chin). San is twenty-two and alone when she happens upon a job at a flower shop in Seoul's bustling city center. Haunted by childhood rejection, she stumbles through life—painfully vulnerable, stifled, and unsure. She barely registers to others, especially by the ruthless standards of 1990s South Korea. Over the course of one hazy, volatile summer, San meets a curious cast of characters: the nonspeaking shop owner, a brash coworker, quiet farmers, and aggressive customers. Fueled by a quiet desperation to jump-start her life, she plunges headfirst into obsession with a passing magazine photographer. In Violets, best-selling author Kyung-Sook Shin explores misogyny, erasure, and repressed desire, as San desperately searches for both autonomy and attachment in the unforgiving reality of contemporary Korean society. We join San in 1970s rural South Korea, a young girl ostracised from her community. She meets a girl called Namae, and they become friends until one afternoon changes everything. Following a moment of physical intimacy in a minari field, Namae violently rejects San, setting her on a troubling path of quashed desire and isolation. We next meet San, aged twenty-two, as she starts a job in a flower shop. There, we are introduced to a colourful cast of characters, including the shop's mute owner, the other florist Su-ae, and the customers that include a sexually aggressive businessman and a photographer, who San develops an obsession for. Throughout, San's moment with Namae lingers in the back of her mind. A story of desire and violence about a young woman who everyone forgot, VIOLETS is a captivating and sensual read, full of tragedy and beauty. "San, a neglected young woman, experiences the violence and isolation of late twentieth-century Korean society"-- Provided by publisher