Violets

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."e;[VIOLETS] binds a spell around the reader until the very end"e; Park Wanseo"e;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"e; Doona Bae, actor (Netflix's SENSE8, CLOUD ATLAS)"e;The story of thwarted desires and the isolated individuals that harbor them... clean prose filled with Shin's trademark rich descriptions"e; Korea Economic Daily