Shoko's Smile

Stories

A bestselling and award-winning debut collection from one of South Korea's most prominent young writers.

In crisp, unembellished prose, Eun-young Choi paints intimate portraits of the lives of young women in South Korea, balancing the personal with the political. In the title story, a fraught friendship between an exchange student and her host sister follows them from adolescence to adulthood. In "A Song from Afar," a young woman grapples with the death of her lover, traveling to Russia to search for information about the deceased. In "Secret," the parents of a teacher killed in the Sewol ferry sinking hide the news of her death from her grandmother.
In the tradition of Sally Rooney, Banana Yoshimoto, and Marilynne Robinson--writers from different cultures who all take an unvarnished look at human relationships and the female experience--Choi Eunyoung is a writer to watch.

Heartbreaking

Well written and well narrated peaks at the various kinds of loss we all have or will experience.

Beautiful

The writing is stunning, and all stories are heartbreaking in a way. The narrators were great too

Pure storytelling

Very different from my normal reads. Fascinating looks into ordinary people moving in a world that moves with or without them. I had to get over trying to force standard western structures and styles and just listen to the stories. Truly engrossing.

Good

I loved the first story! It was the title track and stand out part of the book.