I planned to read this collection slowly, one of the seven stories per evening over a week. I picked it up and devoured it one sitting. A beautiful short story collection that spans centuries and each protagonist is very different character. The central themes of belonging , identity and conflicting cultures weaves throughout and I enjoyed each story more than the previous. A sweeping and moving read that evoked so many emotions in me. What a talent!

4.5-5 stars.

Description:
A collection of seven stories centred on Korean people and communities around the world, with an emphasis on solitude and connection.

Liked:
Really sparsely beautiful prose. Reminded me of Tove Jansson or Kazuo Ishiguro; these are big, emotional themes, delivered with a restrained detachment and clarity which somehow serves to heighten the emotion rather than dampen it. I feel like relatively few writers do this well, and I'm always super impressed when I come across it.
Most of these stories felt like snapshots of a pivotal moment for the protagonist, with no attempt at resolution, leaving you hanging at the point of no return… which is a delicious frustration I find works really well. At The Post Station, Cromer, and The Hive and The Honey were my definite favourites.

Disliked:
I was less interested in the first couple of stories, which had the same themes and starkness as the others but which seemed less charged, somehow.

HIGHLY recommend. Plus it’s a slim little thing - easy to finish in one session.

A beautifully crafted collection of short stories that explore the themes of identity, grief, and loss.

Each story was well written and the characters and settings were vividly described. Some of the stories were particularly haunting and evocative such as the one set on the Russian border.

A highly recommended collection.

Interesting collection of seven short stories, varies themes and interesting characters, all part of the Korean diaspora. Across time and set in different countries, the beautiful and haunting writing leaves you wanting for more.

Comprising seven stories, Paul Yoon’s short story collection ranges far and wide across time and continents, from seventeenth century Japan to twenty-first century suburban London. The grandson of a North Korean refugee who settled in South Korea, Yoon explores themes of identity, loss, loneliness, and hardship in elegantly spare yet vivid prose. His characters, both Korean and otherwise, are frequently displaced, not entirely belonging where they find themselves, often through colonisation or war. Children are left to fend for themselves through circumstance: a twentieth-century veteran, picks up the pieces of his ruined family farm, taking in two orphans while a sixteen-year-old left alone and impoverished after his uncle dies, tracks down his father but finds they’re strangers to each other. These are thoughtful, many-layered often striking stories. Highly recommended.