A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop mania “Powerful and provocative . . . a novel about female strength, spirit, resilience—and the solace that friendship can sometimes provide.”—The Washington … provide.”—The Washington Post
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • NPR • Esquire • Bustle • BBC • New York Post • InStyle
Kyuri is an achingly beautiful woman with a hard-won job at a Seoul “room salon,” an exclusive underground bar where she entertains businessmen while they drink. Though she prides herself on her cold, clear-eyed approach to life, an impulsive mistake threatens her livelihood.
Kyuri’s roommate, Miho, is a talented artist who grew up in an orphanage but won a scholarship to study art in New York. Returning to Korea after college, she finds herself in a precarious relationship with the heir to one of the country’s biggest conglomerates.
Down the hall in their building lives Ara, a hairstylist whose two preoccupations sustain her: an obsession with a boy-band pop star, and a best friend who is saving up for the extreme plastic surgery that she hopes will change her life.
And Wonna, one floor below, is a newlywed trying to have a baby that she and her husband have no idea how they can afford to raise in Korea’s brutal economy.
Together, their stories tell a gripping tale at once unfamiliar and unmistakably universal, in which their tentative friendships may turn out to be the thing that ultimately saves them.
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Frances Cha wrote an amazing character driven story about the harsh realities on the importance of physical beauty women face in contemporary Korean culture.
For any young woman coming-of-age, having eyelid surgery and facial reconstruction was just a normal way of life, and expected if you were not born to meet the standards of what they see as beauty. Having a beautiful face is what you will need to get yourself accepted into the society in order to find a better job, to marry well, to keep your friends, and affects your every being and is confronted with this head on at every turn. To be successful in life, you must conform to the beauty standards at all cost or face being shunned.
Through the eyes of these characters, the reader experiences the hardship and double standards women face in the Korean culture. This book really hit the most important topics, and was written with heart and brutal honesty.
Cha wrote complex characters that defined the culture, the hardships and the emotional conflicts of the cultural norm. This book was very well written and I enjoyed it a lot.
I highly recommend this book.
It’s difficult to believe that this is Frances Cha’s first novel — she’s a masterful storyteller. I was riveted reading about a world I knew nothing about, and from the first page, it was clear Cha was the best possible guide.
Few American novelists know Seoul the way Frances Cha does and in her intimate, panoramic debut, she brings that dazzling city to life. There are voices here you haven’t heard before… An enthralling read from the very first page.
A provoking, ultimately inspiring tale of women pushing back against oppressive customs both traditional and new… Frances Cha, like her quartet of narrators, has a rebel’s heart.
Troubling, kaleidoscopic, and hugely enjoyable.