Shoko's Smile is a beautifully written collection of short stories that ranges a lot of topics with insurmountable grace. I can see why it has been such a celebrated book in Korea and am surprised it took so long for an English translation to make it to print. There wasn't a story in here that I didn't like but in particular the three that stood out for me were Shoko's Smile, Hanji and Youngju, and Michaela.

In Shoko's Smile we follow two girls and later young women, one Korean, and one Japanese and the lasting albeit almost negative relationship they maintain through letters, and the effects they each of on their understanding of each other, themselves, their families. This one haunted me. I actually did reread it before I'd even finished the rest of the book because I was convinced I'd missed something, yet not in a confusing way, more like there was something just out of grasp that I could reach if only I gave my heart over to the story more fully this time. I felt similarly about Hanji and Youngju. I think Choi Eunyoung is one of few writers I've seen successfully write unlikable yet incredibly sympathetic characters, and do it in a short story is even more of a feat. Michaela broke me. It was sad and chaotic, scary in a weird way.

Every story here is thoughtfully constructed, thought provoking, leaves you with lots to mull over and therefore this instant desire to reread them to try and read between the lines a little more closely. I appreciated that they were each really emotional reads without being overly flowery, atmospheric without wasting a word on the page. These stories reminded me a lot of Jhumpa Lahiri, both in writing style, and the themes of identity, ethnicity, displacement and belonging, womanhood, motherhood, and family.

Got to it way late, but thank you Penguin Books and NetGalley for an e-arc.