Yun makes her English-language debut with the touching if anodyne story of a small coastal village where a laundress can wash stains off people’s souls.
The pensive Jieun was born with the ability to heal others and make their wishes come true. She was separated from her parents as a little girl and has since been reincarnated for the literal millionth time. At the end of each life, she has longed in vain to be reunited in the next one with her original family. Now, in her latest iteration, she sets about healing others, taking away the bad memories of a young filmmaker and helping an influencer find a life that better suits her.
In the process, Jieun discovers a surprising bond with a melancholy photographer and learns to enjoy the life she has. Some readers may lose patience with the generic self-help advice Jieun dispenses to her customers: “It’s OK to cry until you feel better”; “learn to live for yourself, not for anyone else.” Still, there’s an undeniable appeal to seeing people get a second chance at life.
Those in the mood for an uplifting fable ought to seek this out.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780593733936
Sam-Still-Reading Reviews Marigold Mind Laundry
I read a lot of Japanese fiction in translation, but not too much Korean to date. The idea of Marigold Mind Laundry appealed to me – a place where you can wash the pains from your heart like stains on your shirt and iron out the crinkles in your life. For the most part, this story is engaging, but occasionally felt to me like it was preaching a particular way to be happy. I just wanted a story!
Jieun lives a in a blissful village with her parents. She’s happy until she overhears a conversation that she possesses special powers, which then cause her family to disappear. She’s hurt and shocked and vows to spend a million lives searching for them.
As life after life goes by with continuing reincarnations and no luck finding her lost family, Jieun grows weary but something about the seaside village of Marigold is enticing. What if she could help people to heal the pain from their hearts with a special laundry? So, the Marigold Mind Laundry is born. As petals fly around the visitors, they drink tea and open about the pain in their lives, whether it be love, career or family. They then put on a shirt which reveals their hurt as stains which can then be washed away or faded. Jieun helps multiple people this way and they all slowly become friends.
Initially, each chapter is focused on a particular visitor, which readers of Japanese cozy fiction series will be familiar with. However, in the last third the focus moves away from the visitors to Jieun herself. It did feel a bit strange, like this was two novellas put together and an early plot thread that was left hanging is suddenly picked up at the end. The ‘how to live your life’ paragraphs are also more frequent, with the author jumping out from the story to talk about how to live your life better and be more grateful (from the author’s blurb at the back of the book, it appears that she has written some self-help books).
Shanna Tan has done a great job of translating this book with the imagery of the petals swirling around the laundry quite beautiful to read, as are the other flower motifs. I do wish that there had been a glossary to explain some of the terms used, and the for the food eaten. I know you can Google it, but sometimes it takes away from the story! Overall, it’s a nice enough read but the story would have been stronger in my opinion if it was magical realism or fictional self-help – not wavering between the two.
https://samstillreading.wordpress.com/2024/10/22/review-marigold-mind-laundry-by-jungeun-yun/
K-Book Trends Talks with Jungeun Yun
In 2023, one news thrilled Korean literature fans at home and abroad. It was that Marigold Mind Laundry, a bestseller in Korea recognized as a “healing fantasy novel,” would be released internationally! For Korean fans, it was a moment of excitement to feel the power of K-literature again! Following is an interview with writer Yun, who shares the joy of life with those close to her and spreads that happiness afar through her stories.
It is a pleasure to have you with us on K-Book Trends. Please say hello to our readers with a brief introduction of yourself.
Hello, everyone. It’s a pleasure for me to be able to meet you all through this interview. It’s even better as it’s spring, the season of hope.
We heard that Marigold Mind Laundry has sold over 300,000 copies in Korea and has been exported to many other countries. Congratulations! Please tell us more about Marigold Mind Laundry.
Thank you for the celebration. It’s still unbelievable, and I feel so grateful. I think the export to various countries was more of a lucky coincidence than a result of my writing being particularly good. Marigold Mind Laundry is a novel that started with the idea of what it would be like to erase, iron, or just keep the stains on your mind, and what it would be like if you could take out your broken heart and launder it clean. The story revolves around Ji-Eun, the main character, who runs a laundry in a town named after the flower “Marigold,” with the name meaning “happiness that will finally come,” where she laughs and cries with the villagers.
Is there anything in particular that you pay attention to when your books are published in multiple languages internationally? Also, there must be some similarities and differences between Korean and international readers’ responses to your works. How have the international readers reacted to your books?
There was nothing in particular that I did for overseas publication, but I had a lot of communication with the translators in each country during the translation process because I wanted the message I wanted to deliver to be as accurate as possible. I thought it was important for the book to be loved in Korea first, and it would be more natural and good for international readers to enjoy Korean sentiments. I’m also curious about the reaction of international readers after the publication, as not all the countries that I signed with last year have published the book yet. I am looking forward to the overseas publication, with hopes that a flowery wind will blow in the hearts of those readers as well.
The popularity of Marigold Mind Laundry brought a sequel, Marigold Mind Photo Studio, which is set in a different location, a “photo studio.” Did you have a sequel in mind from the beginning? How did you come up with the idea for the sequel?
At the end of Marigold Mind Laundry, Hae-In takes a picture of Ji-Eun and says, “Welcome to the mind photo studio.” I envisioned that if the story revolving around a laundry is beloved, I might want to write about a photo studio. I thought, if the mind was cleaned of stains and wrinkles, wouldn’t we want to see the true shape of the invisible mind? Sometimes, I wonder what color the mind would be or what shape it would be. The mind is shapeless, but it seems to be the hardest part of the body. I have long wondered what the mind would look like, because it can withstand all the pain of life and still feel pleasure and happiness. Both Marigold Mind Laundry and Marigold Mind Photo Studio are based on propositions that I have been slowly thinking about and unraveling over the course of my life, rather than on a sudden idea or concept.
Both of your works are set in places that we can easily find in our everyday lives. Why did you choose these “everyday places” as places where magical things happen? What message did you hope to share with readers through these two works?
I think the most mundane things are the most beautiful. I mean, how hard, effortful, and precious it is to have the most mundane, common, and typical things in life? Yet, life doesn’t seem to sparkle up close. It’s full of sleepy, irritating, depressing, exhausting, demanding, and necessary tasks. And often, we are hungry. But, living with these feelings, feeling joy and pleasure in every moment, and living my life right now, is magic to me. Just as life is happiest when we are attached to our daily routines, I wanted to express this sense of relief in familiar places like the laundry and the photo studio.
Before Marigold Mind Laundry, you primarily wrote non-fiction. Why did you move from non-fiction to fiction, and what are some of the similarities and differences you noticed between the two genres?
I wouldn’t say that I switched genres - I have been writing poetry, novels, and essays for a long time, and it’s just that essays are the ones that I have mainly published in the form of books. When the language of fiction comes to me, I write fiction, and when the language of essays comes to me, I write essays, and both genres are equally charming and valuable.
Just looking at the titles of your essay collections, such as Shall We Walk Together, What I Truly Wanted to Hear, and You Can Live as You Want, gives off a soothing vibe. As a writer who gives comfort to readers through books, is there a particular “healing method” that you use for yourself every day?
I write, walk together, say what I want to hear, and do what I want to do. (Laughs) I call it contemplation, and I love it so much that I consider strolling around in a daze a part of my work. I dress lightly, carry a bottle of water, put on my old, familiar, wired earphones, and walk slowly. The sights, smells, colors, and stories I see along the way become subjects for my stories. After a certain incident, I decided to turn the power of compassion inward, to the people closest to me, rather than outward. My way of healing is to say kind things to those closest to me, tell jokes, share delicious food, and laugh as we share warmth. I often don’t hear what I want to hear, so I tell myself or those closest to me what I want to hear. I think the people I need to make more eye contact with and share my heart and love with are the ones who are close to me. And then I write. I write when I’m angry, sad, and depressed, and if that doesn’t work, I travel, even if it’s just for a day. Sharing good food, walking together, doing things you want to do, and sharing love with those close to you is the best way to heal.
You once said, “I dream of living a life of reading and writing until the day I die.” “Reading and writing” sounds easy, but at the same time, it’s difficult. What do you do to keep reading and writing?
This might be a bit of a boring answer, but I try to keep reading and writing to keep reading and writing. I don’t see reading and writing as a task or a job, but I like it so much that I don’t think I make any special effort. Yet, I often take myself to my favorite spaces, which are bookstores or libraries - I naturally get to read books. I also read or write in cafes when I have time, which is something I really enjoy doing, so I go there in a good mood to work or write. I think writing is like breathing to me, maybe it’s just something that’s attached to my body. Sometimes, I write letters instead of talking, sometimes I jot down notes or write a journal when I want to remember something. These short moments become my stories.
If you were to write your next book, what would you like it to be about (genre), and what are your future plans or goals?
I don’t have grandiose goals or plans. When I was younger, I had grand goals, but now that I grew up, the most important thing is to do what I can, what I should, and what I’m given. To be greedy, I would like to be healthy and beautiful, enjoying the happiness of aging with the people I love, while living with heart and sincerity in what I can do today. And, of course, writing stories can’t be omitted. The letters on paper become the pupils of my eyes and reflect my heart. I guess you could say my goal is to read, write, contemplate, walk, laugh, and write stories that reflect my heart.
I think my next book will probably be a novel. I still have a lot of stuff that I haven’t unpacked that I want to write about. I would love to live a life where I finish a book a year if I have the strength, or every two years if I don’t. That sounds like a lot! (Laughs)
https://www.kbook-eng.or.kr/sub/interview.php?ptype=view&idx=1380&page=1&code=interview
Jungeun Yun is the author of more than ten books, including Live the Way You Want, Even If I Don't Know How to Be an Adult and To Travel or to Love. She believes that writing is self-reflection, a close examination of emotions; to write is to connect.
Yun hosts the podcast The Path of Books with Jungeun Yun. Her debut novel, Marigold Mind Laundry, has been a top-five bestseller in Korea, and is now available in English translation. She lives in Korea.