Winter in Sokcho, by Elisa Shua Dusapin

This book was a really interesting short read, set in the winter months in a seaside tourist town called Sokcho in South Korea. The main character, a young French-Korean woman working in a rundown guesthouse develops an interesting relationship with one of her guests - a French graphic novelist trying to finish the last book in his series. The two of them end up taking trips together to find the ‘authentic Sokcho’, and she ends up becoming fascinated with his drawings. It offers a glimpse into life in a town so close to the border during the winter months when most of the tourists have gone. There were moments of similarities between this book and ‘Convenience Store Woman’, but I didn’t think they were very similar overall. I wasn’t really sure what the ending of this book meant, and I also couldn’t really work out the meaning and message of the book - perhaps they were lost on me?

Accessibility:

I thought the language was pretty simple and accessible, there were lots of short sentences and the chapters weren’t long. It’s a short story, and I finished it in one sitting. There aren’t many characters at all to remember.

Winter in Sokcho aesthetic - all photos from Unsplash