We join San in 1970s rural South Korea, a young girl ostracised from her community. She meets a girl called Namae, and they become friends until one afternoon changes everything. Following a moment of physical intimacy in a minari field, Namae violently rejects San, setting her on a troubling path of quashed desire and isolation.
We next meet San, aged twenty-two, as she starts a job in a flower shop. There, we are introduced to a colourful cast of characters, including the shop's mute owner, the other florist Su-ae, and the customers that include a sexually aggressive businessman and a photographer, who San develops an obsession for. Throughout, San's moment with Namae lingers in the back of her mind.
A story of desire and violence about a young woman who everyone forgot, VIOLETS is a captivating and sensual read, full of tragedy but also beauty in its lush, vibrant prose.
"[VIOLETS] binds a spell around the reader until the very end" Park Wanseo
"I always find myself acting out the main character in my mind when I read Kyung-Sook Shin's novels. Reading VIOLETS is like she's writing a script written perfectly for me" Doona Bae, actor (Netflix's SENSE8, CLOUD ATLAS)
"The story of thwarted desires and the isolated individuals that harbor them... clean prose filled with Shin's trademark rich descriptions" Korea Economic Daily
Genre: Literary Fiction
We next meet San, aged twenty-two, as she starts a job in a flower shop. There, we are introduced to a colourful cast of characters, including the shop's mute owner, the other florist Su-ae, and the customers that include a sexually aggressive businessman and a photographer, who San develops an obsession for. Throughout, San's moment with Namae lingers in the back of her mind.
A story of desire and violence about a young woman who everyone forgot, VIOLETS is a captivating and sensual read, full of tragedy but also beauty in its lush, vibrant prose.
"[VIOLETS] binds a spell around the reader until the very end" Park Wanseo
"I always find myself acting out the main character in my mind when I read Kyung-Sook Shin's novels. Reading VIOLETS is like she's writing a script written perfectly for me" Doona Bae, actor (Netflix's SENSE8, CLOUD ATLAS)
"The story of thwarted desires and the isolated individuals that harbor them... clean prose filled with Shin's trademark rich descriptions" Korea Economic Daily
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Darkly beautiful, Violets explores the toll of abandonment and the relentless marginalization of a helpless young woman. The protagonist, San, shivers with insecurity and loneliness but still dares, briefly, to dream of friendship and a normal life. Shin writes of the cruelty and dangers of disempowerment, and an ensuing spiral of despair." - Frances Cha
"Violets is a moving delve into a lonely psyche, with writing raw and sophisticated, tenderhearted and clear-eyed. Vividly translated by Anton Hur, Kyung-Sook Shin's novel is also an intimate, sideways portrait of Seoul through the eyes of a rural outsider who roams the bright lights and big city, not in pursuit of ambitious dreams, but seeking care and human touch." - YZ Chin
"Violets is an aching, atmospheric novel about grief and longing. Oh San, our main character, navigates a life of haunting loneliness and yet she finds tender moments of true beauty. In this slim and powerful book, Kyung-Sook Shin deftly explores the violence of life--of shedding childhood, of becoming a woman, of searching for identity in a shifting world. A beautiful translation by Anton Hur. Go read this book!" - Crystal Hana Kim
"Kyung-Sook Shin has a way of seeing past the smooth surface of societal appearance and into the fragile, obscure psychological space that lies just beneath, where her characters ache in ways that feel both recognizable and possessed of deep insight. I don't know if I've ever read a book that so masterfully captures the subtle desperation of seeking a desire that can be your own in a fast-changing world." - Alexandra Kleeman
"A subtle, deep, unique work of true literature." - Defne Suman
"Mesmerizing, dreamlike, and prescient in its sharpness and attentiveness to the dynamics between women and the male and female gaze, Violets feels utterly contemporary and recalls the work of Mariana Enriquez and Dorthe Nors." - Sharlene Teo
"Violets is a moving delve into a lonely psyche, with writing raw and sophisticated, tenderhearted and clear-eyed. Vividly translated by Anton Hur, Kyung-Sook Shin's novel is also an intimate, sideways portrait of Seoul through the eyes of a rural outsider who roams the bright lights and big city, not in pursuit of ambitious dreams, but seeking care and human touch." - YZ Chin
"Violets is an aching, atmospheric novel about grief and longing. Oh San, our main character, navigates a life of haunting loneliness and yet she finds tender moments of true beauty. In this slim and powerful book, Kyung-Sook Shin deftly explores the violence of life--of shedding childhood, of becoming a woman, of searching for identity in a shifting world. A beautiful translation by Anton Hur. Go read this book!" - Crystal Hana Kim
"Kyung-Sook Shin has a way of seeing past the smooth surface of societal appearance and into the fragile, obscure psychological space that lies just beneath, where her characters ache in ways that feel both recognizable and possessed of deep insight. I don't know if I've ever read a book that so masterfully captures the subtle desperation of seeking a desire that can be your own in a fast-changing world." - Alexandra Kleeman
"A subtle, deep, unique work of true literature." - Defne Suman
"Mesmerizing, dreamlike, and prescient in its sharpness and attentiveness to the dynamics between women and the male and female gaze, Violets feels utterly contemporary and recalls the work of Mariana Enriquez and Dorthe Nors." - Sharlene Teo
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