“This is a heartwarming story that everyone should read in their quiet moments.” The New York Journal of Books

It’s never too late to scrap the plot and start again. Hwang Bo-reum brings her heart-warming novel about the healing power of books Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop to Dublin.

Yeongju is burned out. She did everything she was supposed to: go to school, marry a decent man, get a respectable job. Then it all fell apart. In a leap of faith, Yeongju abandons her old life, quits her high-flying career, and follows her dream. She opens a bookshop. In a quaint neighborhood in Seoul, surrounded by books, Yeongju and her customers take refuge. The Hyunam-dong Bookshop becomes the place where they all learn how to truly live. Translated by Shanna Tan, this slice-of-life novel about finding acceptance is loved by readers of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library and Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of AJ Fikry.

Hwang Bo-reum studied Computer Science and worked as a software engineer. She wrote several essay collections: I Read Every Day, I Tried Kickboxing for the First Time and This Distance is Perfect. Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop was initially published as an e-book after winning an open contest.

In conversation with Miriam Abuin.

Presented with support Literature Translation Institute of Korea.