Wayward Reviews

A beautiful story about a bookshop owner and how her shop and her life is affected by those around her and the choices she makes along the way.

Book Synopsis

Book Details

Pages: 320

Genre: Literary Fiction

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Format: Hardback

There was only one thing on her mind.

‘I must start a bookshop.’

Yeongju did everything she was supposed to, go to university, marry a decent man, get a respectable job. Then it all fell apart. Burned out, Yeongju abandons her old life, quits her high-flying career, and follows her dream. She opens a bookshop.

In a quaint neighbourhood in Seoul, surrounded by books, Yeongju and her customers take refuge. From the lonely barista to the unhappily married coffee roaster, and the writer who sees something special in Yeongju – they all have disappointments in their past. The Hyunam-dong Bookshop becomes the place where they all learn how to truly live.

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Review

* Non-Spoiler Review*

I confess, I was drawn to this book because of the cover. Lately I have been consuming so much Korean related content, that I wasn’t that surprised to find myself wanting to read this book. However, it wasn’t just because it was written by a Korean or based in Korea, but was due to it being about a bookshop. As a bibliophile, who hasn’t dreamt about owing their own bookshop?!

Now this book took me a long time to read. I found that I could only read a few chapters at a time as it was so rich in detail and story. Not only do we read about Yeongju the bookshop owner, but also about her barista Minjun. Each chapter is a snippet of a certain scenario that happened or a back story about the main or supporting characters. I couldn’t bring myself to power through quickly as I wanted to savour each chapter.

Overall, this book is a very slow pace read – yet, thought provoking and relatable to many stages of one’s life. I was absorbed with every chapter and when I finished, I felt content with being able to follow Yeongju journey.

Spice Rating: 0/6 – See my rating system here

Book Rating: 4/5