Korean Literature

Meet Noh Inji: thirty years old, five wedding rings and counting, and she’s never once been in love. When Inji takes a job at Wedding & Life, the popular matchmaking service, she never imagines her role will be with NM, their secretive marriage division that rents out “field spouses” for a fixed period to their elite clientele. Just like a real marriage, Inji’s assignments involve a wedding, some sex, and a spot of housework. It’s all tailored exactly to the client’s desires—no legal battles, no fights, no emotional baggage.

Life near the North Korean border is a zero-sum game, an ongoing battle in which you either win or you lose. This dangerous, shadowed netherworld is home to an unforgettable woman known only as the “trickster.” Inspired by the story of Lee’s great aunt, one of the oldest women to escape alone from North Korea, 8 Lives of a Century Old Trickster consists of eight dark and spellbinding chapters that follow this remarkable character and her family as they struggle to survive during the most turbulent times of modern Korean history.

Often considered the highest achievement in Korean fiction, The Nine Cloud Dream poses the question: Will the life we dream of truly make us happy? Written in 17th-century Korea, this classic novel's wondrous story begins when a young monk living on a sacred Lotus Peak in China succumbs to the temptation of eight fairy maidens. For doubting his master's Buddhist teachings, the monk is forced to endure a strange punishment: reincarnation as the most ideal of men.

This is the story of a hen named Sprout. No longer content to lay eggs on command only to have them carted off to the market, she glimpses her future every morning through the barn doors, where the other animals roam free, and comes up with a plan to escape into the wild - and to hatch an egg of her own. An anthem for individuality and motherhood, The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly has captivated millions of fans in Korea, where it is a contemporary classic. Now the novel is making its way around the world.

In the aftermath of World War II, Goh Junja is a girl just coming into her own. She is the latest successful deep-sea diver in her family. She urges her mother to allow her to make their annual trip to Mt. Halla, where they trade sea delicacies for pork. A sea-village girl, Junja has never been to the mountains, where it smells like mushrooms and earth, and it is there she falls in love with mountain-boy Yang Suwol. But when Junja returns one day later, it is just in time to see her mother take her last breath, beaten by the waves during a dive she was taking in Junja's place.

When her friends gift her a 23-and-Me test as a gag, high school senior Chloe Kang doesn’t think much of trying it out. She doesn’t believe anything will come of it—she’s an only child, her mother is an orphan, and her father died in Seoul before she was even born, and before her mother moved to Oklahoma. It’s been just Chloe and her mom her whole life. But the DNA test reveals something Chloe never expected— she’s got a whole extended family from her father’s side half a world away in Korea.

Junie Kim just wants to fit in. So she keeps her head down and tries not to draw attention to herself. But when racist graffiti appears at her middle school, Junie must decide between staying silent or speaking out. Then Junie’s history teacher assigns a project and Junie decides to interview her grandparents, learning about their unbelievable experiences as kids during the Korean War. Junie comes to admire her grandma’s fierce determination to overcome impossible odds, and her grandpa’s unwavering compassion during wartime.

The master of military historical fiction turns his discerning eye to the Korean War in this riveting new novel, which tells the dramatic story of the Americans and the Chinese who squared off in one of the deadliest campaigns in the annals of combat: the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as Frozen Chosin.

In a race to stop an ancient evil from destroying the worlds as they know them, Sunny comes to a startling, heartbreaking realization: if she chooses love—everything will burn. Sunny Cho aspires to be the dullest, least interesting person in any given room, which can be challenging for a nine-tailed fox spirit. So she drifts from city to city—staying clear of any and all attachment—and keeps her fox buried deep inside her. It is better this way. She would rather live as half of herself than risk losing control of her terrible powers.

눈덩이처럼 불어나는 엄마의 병원비가 버거워서였을까. 서현은 마주 앉은 남자의 제안에 일순 마음이 흔들렸다. 그런 그녀를 예의 무료한 눈빛으로 바라보는 남자, 최지환.

이제 그만 가자." 비 오는 금요일, 따분하기만 한 소개팅 자리. 그곳에 3년 만에 나타난 엄마 친구 아들은, 이상했다. "승교, 오빠?

이 소설은 참고서 편집자 서른세 살 영오가 죽은 아버지가 유품으로 남긴 수첩에 적힌 세 사람을 찾아나며 시작한다.

온화하지만 허영심이 강한 메그, 천사 같은 심성을 지닌 이타주의자 베스, 투덜대면서도 자신이 나아갈 길을 아는 막내 에이미, 그리고 엉뚱한 사고뭉치지만 책을 좋아하는 작가 지망생 조. 가난하고 초라한 환경이지만 고비마다 서로에게 위로자가 되어주며 인생의 참의미를 찾아가는 네 자매는 1868년 첫 발표 이래 약 150여 년간 전 세계 50여 개국 독자들에게 꾸준히 사랑받고 있다. 독자들은 누구나 네 자매 중 한 명을 자신과 동일시하며 마치 집안의 자매들에게 빠져들었고, [타임]이 최고의 100대 소설로 선정한 것도 바로 이런 공감의 힘에서 나왔다.

Couture gowns, press parties, international travel. Rachel Kim is at the top of her game. Girls Forever is now the number-one K-pop group in the world, and her fame skyrockets after her viral airport styling attracts the attention of fashion’s biggest names. Her life’s a swirl of technicolor glamour and adoring fans. Rachel can’t imagine shining any brighter.

Henry Park has spent his entire life trying to become a true American—a native speaker. But even as the essence of his adopted country continues to elude him, his Korean heritage seems to drift further and further away. Park's harsh Korean upbringing has taught him to hide his emotions, to remember everything he learns, and most of all to feel an overwhelming sense of alienation. In other words, it has shaped him as a natural spy.

두려움, 회피, 슬픔 등 음식으로 나쁜 기억을 치유할 순 없을까? 심리적 편식은 '나쁜 습관'이 아닌, '아픈 기억'이라는 말이 있다. 아픈 몸을 의사가 치료하듯 아픈 기억은 요리사가 치료해줄 수 있지 않을까 하는 생각에서 이 이야기는 시작된다.

Yongju is an accomplished student from one of North Korea's most prominent families. Jangmi has had to fend for herself since childhood, most recently by smuggling goods across the border. Danny is a Chinese American teenager of North Korean descent whose quirks and precocious intelligence have long marked him as an outcast in his California high school. These three disparate lives converge when each of them travels to the region where China borders North Korea.

On the outside, Yumi Chung suffers from #shygirlproblems, a perm-gone-wrong, and kids calling her "Yu-MEAT" because she smells like her family's Korean barbecue restaurant. On the inside, Yumi is ready for her Netflix stand-up special. Her notebook is filled with mortifying memories that she's reworked into comedy gold. All she needs is a stage and courage.

양 갈래로 땋은 빨강 머리에 주근깨 많고 창백한 피부를 가진 앤. 지난 100년 동안 이토록 사랑받은 주인공이 또 있을까? 역사상 가장 사랑받은 소녀 이야기 『빨강 머리 앤』이 아름다운 모습으로 우리를 찾아왔다. 평화로운 에이번리 마을 커스버트네 집에 농사를 도울 남자아이가 온다는 소문이 돈다. 하지만 마차에서 내린 사람은 빼빼 마르고 머리가 빨간 여자아이. 실수로 입양된 고아 앤 셜리는 숫기 없는 매슈, 엄격한 마릴라 남매와 새로운 삶을 시작한다. 과연 이들에게 무슨 일이 일어날까? 첫 페이지부터 책을 덮을 때까지 손에서 놓을 수 없는 이야기의 힘은 바로 '앤'이라는 인물이 지닌 강력한 힘에서 온다.

Heungbo and Nolbo are not only brothers, but also friends—until their father passes away. Overcome by greed, Nolbo turns Heungbo away and refuses to help him when Heungbo loses his crops. Can Heungbo forgive Nolbo? Will they learn to be a family again?