My thanks to the publisher for my free digital ARC! I read The Old Woman with the Knife by this author in 2022, and this book is a complete departure from that one - though I found both very enjoyable! Your Neighbour’s Table is a quieter novel, in which we follow a few different families who are living in a new communal building subsidised by the government. Couples who live there must have at least one child already, and sign a contract promising to try for more or else pay back their rent. It’s a nifty little way of creating a microcosm of Korean society to explore things like work, motherhood and gender roles. It’s a bit of a mix between The School for Good Mothers and Kim Jiyoung, 1984. Any mother who doesn’t fall into line with the cultural expectations of her peers is practically shunned. I particularly felt for one mother, an illustrator who works from home, who battled the injustice of expecting to be a full time caregiver while working a full time job, because she happens to be able to work from home. This book is full of little instances that make your blood boil at the unfairness of it all.

The translation was clear and concise, though the style overall was not the most exciting. I really enjoyed the ending, it was sort of like a ‘where are they now?’ but slightly more ominous.