'A masterpiece.' Huffington Post.

It's winter in Sokcho, a tourist town on the border between South and North Korea. The cold slows everything down. Bodies are red and raw, the fish turn venomous, beyond the beach guns point out from the North's watchtowers.

A young French Korean woman works as a receptionist in a run-down guesthouse. One evening, an unexpected guest arrives: a French graphic novelist determined to find inspiration in this desolate landscape.

The two form an uneasy relationship. When she agrees to accompany him on his trips to discover an 'authentic' Korea, they visit snowy mountaintops and dramatic waterfalls. But he takes no interest in the Sokcho she knows: the gaudy neon lights, the scars of war, the fish market where her mother works. She is pulled into his drawings but troubled by his vision of her - until she strikes upon a way to finally be seen

'A punchy first novel.' Guardian

'Narrated in an elegant, enigmatic voice that skilfully summons the tenderness and mutability of an inner life, Winter in Sokcho is a lyrical and atmospheric work of art.' Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti

'Mysterious, beguiling and glowing with tender intelligence... Dusapin's talent is a thrill to behold.' Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine

'A vivid, tactile, often claustrophobic, and gorgeously written novel. An absolute joy from beginning to end.' Lara Williams, author of Supper Club

'Atmospheric, exquisitely written and highly charged.' Olivia Sudjic, author of Sympathy

Autorentext

Elisa Shua Dusapin was born in France and raised in Paris, Seoul and Switzerland. Winter in Sokcho (Hiver à Sokcho) is her first novel. Published in 2016 to wide acclaim, it was awarded the Prix Robert Walser and the Prix Régine Desforges, and has been translated into six languages.

Klappentext

'A punchy first novel.' -- Guardian Top 10 Best New Books in Translation

As if Marguerite Duras wrote Convenience Store Woman - a beautiful, unexpected novel from a debut French Korean author

It's winter in Sokcho, a tourist town on the border between South and North Korea. The cold slows everything down. Bodies are red and raw, the fish turn venomous, beyond the beach guns point out from the North's watchtowers. A young French Korean woman works as a receptionist in a tired guesthouse. One evening, an unexpected guest arrives: a French cartoonist determined to find inspiration in this desolate landscape.

The two form an uneasy relationship. When she agrees to accompany him on trips to discover an 'authentic' Korea, they visit snowy mountaintops and dramatic waterfalls, and cross into North Korea. But he takes no interest in the Sokcho she knows - the gaudy neon lights, the scars of war, the fish market where her mother works. As she's pulled into his vision and taken in by his drawings, she strikes upon a way to finally be seen.

An exquisitely-crafted debut, which won the Prix Robert Walser, Winter in Sokcho is a novel about shared identities and divided selves, vision and blindness, intimacy and alienation. Elisa Shua Dusapin's voice is distinctive and unmistakable.

'Beautifully translated from the French by Aneesa Abbas Higgins, comes together slowly, like a Polaroid photo, its effects both intimate and foreign.' -- TLS

'Enigmatic, beguiling...This finely crafted debut explores topics of identity and heredity in compelling fashion. In its aimless, outsider protagonist there are echoes of Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman.' -- Irish Times

'The bustling seaside resort of Sokcho in South Korea is the perfect backdrop for this quietly haunting debut.' -- Daily Mail

'Crisp and poetic.' -- i

'Dazzling.' -- Vogue Top Five Debuts

'A fascinating portrait of life in modern Korea.' -- S Magazine