[This Week’s Novels] "Selling My Husband" and More

Selling My Husband

This is a black comedy that humorously depicts a game of wits and competition between wives who want to sell their husbands and women who want to buy them. Through a secret club’s husband auction, the story comically yet cruelly reveals a cast of characters entangled in love, desire, and longing. The author’s uniquely sly and chilling prose brings to life each character’s desires-desires that can neither be openly revealed nor easily abandoned. (Written by Goyohan | Namuyupui Ja)

Can Love Be Restored?

This is a touching romantic comedy set in Gurye, Jeollanam-do. The author weaves into the story the impressions and fond memories from a trip to Gurye years ago, as well as the love that gradually blossomed and grew through both conscious and unconscious visits afterward. The narrative follows Hwang Seol, a former journalist who restores old books, and Jung Yugun, a veterinarian devoted to protecting Asiatic black bears, as they become entangled by misunderstandings and ill-fated ties. The story traces their journey of ‘restoring’ each other’s wounds and hearts. Meeting through misfortune, passing through coincidence, and moving toward destiny, they confront misunderstandings and conflicts, ultimately embracing each other’s scars and restoring both their relationship and sense of self. (Written by Song Raeum | Texty)

Husbands

This is a historical epic depicting the unconventional life of Suhyang, a woman who lived through the Japanese colonial era and the Korean War. After gaining spiritual vision through shamanic illness, Suhyang overturns the patriarchal order by enduring forced marriage, betrayal, and murder, and by having multiple ‘husbands’. Set against the backdrop of a gloomy Japanese-style house, it is a grand female narrative where desire, love, ruin, and salvation intersect. The novel powerfully portrays a woman who, even in the shadows of modern Korean history, chooses her own path in life. (Written by Park Sohae | Texty)

Coffee Ghost Stories

This is a chilling collection of ghost stories that unfold in old Japanese cafes. Invited by his friend Onoe in Kyoto, Tsukazaki Damon encounters another character, Chinu Mizushima, and thus begins the tale of coffee ghost stories. Written by Riku Onda, a master of Japanese ghost tales, this collection commemorates the 30th anniversary of her debut and is filled with her signature lyrical sense of horror. Most of the stories are based on true events that the author experienced or heard firsthand, leaving a lingering, uncanny impression. (Written by Riku Onda | Yeollimwon)