In “A Song from Afar,” a young woman suffering depression grapples with the premature death of the woman she loves and travels to Russia to find the latter’s old roommate. “Hanji and Youngju” is a novella about a Korean geology student and a young Kenyan man who bond at a French monastery but inexplicably grow apart one day. The title story “Shoko’s Smile” is a novella about the fraught friendship between a Korean and Japanese girl unfolding over thirteen years as they struggle with their dreams and families. Largely following the nuanced relationships of women-between friends, lovers, and family-the book is a microscopic, almost obsessive, study of complex emotions underlying their personal interactions. Whenever I thought of Shoko, I was scared she would stop liking me.”Īn award-winning debut from Choi Eunyoung, Shoko’s Smile is a collection of five short stories and two novellas that explore the joys and heartbreaks of human relationships as they blossom and wither. “Some lovers are like friends, while some friends are like lovers.
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