Review by Freya Bennett
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop has been the perfect tonic for an intense world. If I could prescribe a book to anyone feeling the weight of the world, it would be this one. A charming love letter to book lovers the world over, Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop was balm to my anxious soul.
Many of us have fantasised about opening a bookshop and while this is usually not something achievable (especially in this economy), you can delve into Hwang Bo-Reum‘s world and live that life for a little bit. A book of self-acceptance that encourages the reader to reflect on their feelings towards themselves and hopefully learn to be just that little bit kinder.
Yeongju was burnt out. She got divorced, quit a job that she described as “siphoning her soul away” and opened a bookshop in a quiet neighbourhood. With enough money to last two years living her dream, can she make the bookshop profitable enough to continue living her dream forever? The neighbourhood delivers a cast of closeknit friends who take refuge in the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop as they work out where they fit in this crazy world.
An ode to the quiet life, to healing from productivity culture and learning to go slow.
