I always love it when an author can seamlessly blend personal narratives with the political. Usually I find this most well done in novels, but with Shoko’s Smile, Choi Eunyoung manages to do it brilliantly multiple times over. Each of the stories in this collection plants you firmly in the lives of the new characters with ease. They aren’t *short* short stories, but they’re not novellas either, so the author really does an incredible job getting you situated and familiar with the lives of each new character.

South Korean women are the main focus of this collection, and often they are living lives outside of South Korea, or with people from other parts of the world. But it’s not just themes of immigration and intercultural relationships that are explored: we have intergenerational relationships, disability, physical & mental illness, ambition, war, isolation, childhood innocence… the list goes on!

There was only one story out of the collection that I felt less than satisfied with (Youngju & Hanji), and the rest were all so well realised, I just loved them! But if I had to pick favourites I’d go for Xin Chào, Xin Chào, Shoko’s Smile and Michaela. The stories are all quite melancholic, but Michaela will break your heart 😭