It might be a little bit meta, but many readers (myself included) have an appetite for stories about bookstores and the casts of characters who inhabit them. The South Korean bestseller “Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop,” written by Hwang Bo-reum, has recently been translated into English and is a thoughtful slice-of-life story that also serves as a tribute to the power of books and community. When the book opens, Yeongju has recently opened a bookshop in the neighborhood of Hyunam-dong in Seoul.
This is a dream she’s had since childhood, yet customers who have visited the store in its early months have noticed that its owner seems to be going through emotional turmoil. As Yeongju forms more concrete plans for the shop’s future and the niche she wants to carve out, she begins to reckon with the pressures and the difficult but necessary choices in her past that have brought her here. The bookshop’s growth leads to unexpected connections between its employees, suppliers, book club members and visitors.
From conflicted barista Minjun to Jungsuh, who crochets nonstop; to Mincheol, who doesn’t want to do much of anything at all, we see the influence of Yeongju and each other on their trajectories. Friendships are formed, family members grow to understand each other more deeply, and romance slowly blossoms. As these characters gain perspective on their lives through their reading and conversations, they think more deeply about the social expectations placed on them, .
