Plant Lady [German]

Author Minyoung Kang
Translator Kyong-Hae Flügel
Korean Publisher Hanibook
Overseas Publisher Heyne Verlag

Yoohee runs a plant shop, simply named “Plant Shop,” known for its distinct, mysterious atmosphere. But after closing the store for the day, she buries strange, unidentified masses in the ground. As the men around her go missing one after another, suspicion falls on her, and the secret she has been hiding comes to light. Meanwhile Yoohee listens to the stories of the women who visit her store and comes to face the pain and wounds each had to endure alone. As the women share their experiences, they gradually form connections with one another, reach out to comfort others in pain, and in the process gain the strength to keep going together.

Voyage à Cantant [French]

Author Lee Seung-U
Translator Hye-gyeong KIM-de Crescenzo, Jean-Claude de Crescenzo
Korean Publisher Hyundae Munhak
Overseas Publisher Decrescenzo éditeurs

Voyage à Cantant tells the story of three people, Han Jungsu, Tanael, and Pip, as they confront their own losses and guilt and come to terms with their past. Jungsu lives with a secret about his wife’s death, while Pip and Tanael also carry their own stories of trauma. When their confessions brings truth to light, Jungsu confronts his wife’s death and the guilt that has weighed on him for long. As they lend an ear to each other’s stories, the three of them look back on their own pain and, through forgiveness and reconciliation, finally gain the strength to move forward.

Holy Boy [English]

Author Lee Hee-joo
Translator Joheun Lee
Korean Publisher Munhakdongne
Overseas Publisher Picador

In the 1990s, the four women who are in love with the K-pop idol Yosep each try in their own ways to possess him, and the ensuing events lead to the scene of a crime that causes a sensation. Through a series of unexpected events following the characters in pursuit of love, the story reveals the face of desire and obsession beneath the surface of “love.” The author sees love not as a simple, beautiful emotion, but as a part of human nature that can at times be anxious and precarious. Yet the characters still find themselves opening their hearts to others, and the novel invites readers to ponder about the possibility of love as something that that helps different people connect with each other.

Ghost [Japanese]

Author Jung Yong-jun
Translator 浅田 絵美
Korean Publisher Hyundae Munhak
Overseas Publisher 彩流社

Following the deaths of several senior government officials and politicians, Shin Hae-jun, prisoner no. 474, waits for his very last chance to prove his existence and beliefs. After an incident involving the prison warden, Shin regains his will to live and comes face to face with his sister Shin Hae-gyeong, who has been on her own for a long time. Ghost follows the encounter between the brother and sister, and delves into the complicated emotions and relationship between one who has committed evil and another who watches him from close by. This book shows that even at the moment we are ready to flatly label someone as evil, there are lives and wounds within them that cannot be easily explained, posing questions about how we judge others and what evil really means.

One Hundred Shadows [English]

Author Hwang Jungeun
Translator Yewon Jung
Korean Publisher Minumsa
Overseas Publisher Tilted Axis Press

Eungyo and Mujae, who work at an electronics repair shop in an area slated for demolition, have a strange experience one day—their shadows seem to move on their own. The discussion of this incident allows them to confront each other’s trauma and anxieties, and the two grow closer. Even amid the violence and unease of the city, they share meals, take walks, stay by each other’s sides, and go on loving one another. One Hundred Shadows shows that it is not grand gestures of salvation or extraordinary hope, but small acts of kindness, like sharing an umbrella on a rainy day, or calling to check in on someone during a blackout, that give us the strength to keep going.