Violets

Violets is a novel built on the proximity of beauty and violence . . . Shin finds indirect and nuanced ways to conjure the atmosphere of a place where flourishing is thwarted at every turn . . . There's a timeless, fable-like quality to the narration that makes the story strange and gripping. -- Lara Feigel * Guardian * Dreamy, immersive and evocative . . . What Shin does well in Violets . . . is the portrayal of the disappointments, desires, regrets and loneliness of everywoman characters on the fringes of society. San's failures - to get a respectable job, to have her own writing desk, to be acknowledged by the man she desires - are depicted with credibility and tenderness * TLS * Mesmerising, dreamlike and prescient in its sharpness and attentiveness to the dynamics between women and the male and female gaze. VIOLETS feels utterly contemporary and recalls the work of Mariana Enriquez and Dorthe Nors -- Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti Darkly beautiful, Violets explores the toll of abandonment and the relentless marginalization of a helpless young woman. The protagonist, San, shivers with insecurity and loneliness but still dares, briefly, to dream of friendship and a normal life. Shin writes of the cruelty and dangers of disempowerment, and an ensuing spiral of despair -- Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face Violets lavishes attention on the kind of person who often slips through the cracks, unseen or ignored. There is a beauty and a bravery in speaking for small lives -- Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Harmless Like You Kyung-sook Shin has a way of seeing past the smooth surface of societal appearance and into the fragile, obscure psychological space that lies just beneath, where her characters ache in ways that feel both recognizable and possessed of deep insight. I don't know if I've ever read a book that so masterfully captures the subtle desperation of seeking a desire that can be your own in a fast-changing world -- Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun An intimate portrait of isolation and unspoken desire. Darkly poetic, dreamlike and meditative, Kyung-Sook Shin's spellbinding tale captures the invisible life and longing of a country girl trapped in a rapidly changing city -- Adelle Stripe, author of Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile As a beautiful window on San's world Violets is like a perfectly detailed painting, but it also tells the heart-rending story of a hurt child growing up as a lonely outsider. For me now, with her tragedy so well-realised, Violets will stay with me, and those flowers will always make me think of her -- Vashti Bunyan Shin Kyung Sook tells us a story which takes place both in a foreign land and in a very familiar space in our hearts. Human beings' everlasting agony of "longing to belong" presents itself in every page of this book with intensity and with beauty. A subtle, deep, unique work of true literature -- Defne Suman, author of The Silence of Scheherazade Violets is a moving delve into a lonely psyche, with writing raw and sophisticated, tenderhearted and clear-eyed. Vividly translated by Anton Hur, Shin Kyung-sook's novel is also an intimate, sideways portrait of Seoul through the eyes of a rural outsider who roams the bright lights and big city not in pursuit of ambitious dreams, but seeking care and human touch -- YZ Chin, author of Edge Case Violets is an aching, atmospheric novel about grief and longing. Oh San, our main character, navigates a life of haunting loneliness and yet she finds tender moments of true beauty. In this slim and powerful book, Kyung-Sook Shin deftly explores the violence of life - of shedding childhood, of becoming a woman, of searching for identity in a shifting world. A beautiful translation by Anton Hur. Go read this book! -- Crystal Hana Kim, author of If you Leave Me The beauty of Kyung-sook Shin's prose is in its expert weave of immersion, precision and surprise. The narrativ

Kyung-Sook Shin is one of South Korea's most widely read and acclaimed novelists. She has been honored with the Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, the Dong-in Literature Prize, and the Yi Sang Literary Prize, Mark of Respect Award (2012), and Ho-Am Prize for an Art (2013) as well as France's Prix de l'Inaperu and Man Asian Literary Prize (2011). She is the author of many prior works of fiction in addition to PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOTHER, which has been published in 41 countries, and was on the New York Times bestselling list. Shin was a visiting scholar at Columbia University from 2010 to 2011. She currently lives in Seoul.