Violets

'Dreamy, immersive and evocative' TLS'Darkly beautiful' Frances Cha'Strange and gripping' GuardianSan is twenty-two and alone when she happens upon a job at a flower shop in Seoul's bustling city centre.Haunted by childhood rejection, she stumbles through life - painfully vulnerable, stifled, and unsure. She barely registers to others, especially by the ruthless standards of 1990s South Korea.But over the course of one summer, San meets a curious cast of characters: the nonspeaking shop owner, a brash co-worker, aggressive customers and an enigmatic magazine photographer. Fuelled by a quiet desperation to jump-start her life, she dares, briefly, to dream of connection in an unforgiving world.Translated by Anton Hur