Tag: books

Frances Cha—If I had your face *****

In an exclusive Seoul neigbourhood, is a cheap apartment building where a married couple and several single young women live. Minho is a talented artist, Kyuri, after multiple plastic surgeries, is a beautiful room salon worker in debt, and Ara a hairstylist.

This contemporary tale not only delves into women struggling to survive in an expensive city but explores the attitude of the rich who use and abuse those they consider to be on a lower peg than themselves. A must read for those who are curious about Korea’s social hierarchy and the lives some are forced to live.

Daphne Kalotay — Russian winter *****

Nina was a Russian ballerina who manages to escape Stalin’s dangerous regime after her artistic friends become victims. In Boston, she buries her past until she decides to sell her jewellery collection. But when an associate from the auction house and a professor of Russian delve into the unique jewellery, they unravel a mystery that changes all their lives.

Yoko Ogawa’s—The memory police *****

A novelist lives alone on a remote island since her parents have been removed by the memory police. It is not only people who have disappeared, but objects too—hats, the ferry service to the northern island—things that are also removed from the inhabitants’ memories. Every now and then when she wakes, she senses something else has disappeared.

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Joan Clark’s — An audience of chairs *****

Moranna lives in a Cape Bretton farmhouse in a small village. She is often alone when her partner, Bun is away working on the ferries between islands. Although she is considered mad by the locals, she decides to attend her estranged daughter’s impending wedding in Halifax when she learns the news. But will she be welcomed?