The BookPage Review
A bookshop becomes an inspiration for transformation in this thought-provoking tale by author and essayist Hwang Bo-reum.
After she burns out from her intense career and divorces her controlling husband, Yeongju decides to find emotional fulfillment by pursuing her childhood dream of owning a bookshop. Although she finds the business aspect of running a bookshop more challenging than she expected, Yeongju discovers that she’s created a special space for thought, growth and connection with others.
Included in the cast of characters who are inspired by Yeongju and her bookshop sanctuary are Minjun, a young man desperate for work after dropping out of university who becomes the shop’s barista; Jungsuh, a woman who quits her job because of its unfair policies and now spends her time crocheting at the store; and Seungwoo, an office worker-turned-author who hosts a writing workshop at the bookshop.
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is a slice-of-life tale with appealing characters whose trials stay light on drama. Their stories explore aspects of Korean culture, including the expectation that children defer to their parents and wives to their husbands, and the value placed on success in work over the development of one’s inner life.
While the prose is clear and uncluttered, at times the narrative can feel stilted and repetitive, although this may be an impact of the translation from the original Korean. Still, the messages about happiness and not wasting time in unsuitable and meaningless endeavors are uplifting and provide a cozy read. This title may be a match for fans of What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama and Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.
https://www.bookpage.com/reviews/welcome-to-the-hyunam-dong-bookshop-hwang-bo-reum-shanna-tan-book-review/
New York Journal of Books Review: Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
Reviewed by Paul LaRosa
In this Korean novel, Yeongju is a woman in crisis, despite being married and having a good corporate job. She is dissatisfied with both her husband and her job, and, on a whim, she abandons both to open a bookshop. She has no experience other than enjoying books while she was growing up. Unable to settle on a name, she names the store after the neighborhood where it is situated, and so The Hyum-Dong Bookshop is born.
It's rocky at the start. Yeongju is clearly depressed and spends most of her first year crying in the shop and ignoring the few shoppers who enter. One can only guess that it’s a lot cheaper to rent a storefront in Korea than America because it’s unlikely this sort of thing would happen here.
But this is a promising premise for the rest of the novel, which was a runaway success in Korea. One suspects that it will catch on with readers here also, if for no other reason than the setup and the magic of a bookstore. Of course, it’s a natural for readers. What lover of books has not thought about starting a cute little bookshop like this one?
Yeongju shakes herself out of her ennui and begins taking herself and the bookshop more seriously. She begins to think: What makes a good book? And despite her own love of fiction, she begins to understand that not every reader is the same, that some do not like fiction at all. As time goes on, she resolves to support small and interesting authors and shuns the large commercial books even though they bring in more money.
She’s trying to create something here and make a statement. She expands what the bookstore provides, first hiring a trusty right-hand aide Minjun to brew and sell coffee in the shop’s small café and he becomes as infatuated with coffee beans and coffee as his boss is with books. She realizes with an intuitive third eye that he is similar in disposition to her.
Soon enough, the store finds its true calling as a place that caters to a collection of lost souls: the woman who sits all day crocheting, the surly teenager whose mother requires him to sit there every day as a type of discipline, and a writer and editor who eventually teaches courses dreamed up by Yeongju.
All of them seem to be questioning the meaning of their lives. Yeongju suggests books to all of them, but it’s clear that by offering a waystation where they can think, she and the bookshop are something so much more important.
Author Hwang Bo-Reum’s own life is intertwined with characters and her novel. She was a software engineer who won a writing contest and turned her story into an e-book. From there it became a sensation. The writing, perhaps because of the translation, tends to be herky-jerky and feel like a collection of short stories. But to criticize the writing too harshly would be wrong. This is a heartwarming story that everyone should read in their quiet moments.
If you want plot, read James Patterson. If you want to think, this is the book for you.
In the author’s note at the end of the novel, she concludes: “The yardstick to measure one’s life lies within oneself. And that’s good enough . . . there are moments in life where we come to think, That’s good enough. In that moment, all the anxiety and worries melt away, leaving us with the realization that we’ve done our best to get to where we are. We’re satisfied and proud of ourselves.”
https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/welcome-hyunam-dong-bookshop-novel