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**Shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize**
A sweeping, multi-generational tale blending fable, farce, and fantasy - a masterpiece of magical realism exploring queer identity.
A woman sells her daughter to a passing beekeeper for two jars of honey. A baby weighing fifteen pounds is born in the depths of winter but named “Girl of Spring”. A storm brings down the roof of a ramshackle restaurant to reveal a hidden fortune. These are just some of the events that set Myeong-Kwan Cheong's beautifully crafted, wild world in motion.
Set in a remote village in South Korea, Whale follows the lives of its linked characters: Geumbok, who has been chasing an indescribable thrill ever since she first saw a whale crest in the ocean; her mute daughter, Chunhui, who communicates with elephants; and a one-eyed woman who controls honeybees with a whistle.
Brimming with surprises and wicked humour, Whale is an adventure-satire of epic proportions, by one of international literature's the most original voices.
A woman sells her daughter to a passing beekeeper for two jars of honey. A baby weighing fifteen pounds is born in the depths of winter but named “Girl of Spring”. A storm brings down the roof of a ramshackle restaurant to reveal a hidden fortune. These are just some of the events that set Myeong-Kwan Cheong's beautifully crafted, wild world in motion.
Set in a remote village in South Korea, Whale follows the lives of its linked characters: Geumbok, who has been chasing an indescribable thrill ever since she first saw a whale crest in the ocean; her mute daughter, Chunhui, who communicates with elephants; and a one-eyed woman who controls honeybees with a whistle.
Brimming with surprises and wicked humour, Whale is an adventure-satire of epic proportions, by one of international literature's the most original voices.
Author: Cheon Myeong-Kwan (translated by Chi-Young Kim)
Paperback Published 1 October 2024 368 pages
Originally published in trade paperback 18 April 2023
Read and Recommended by Hendri:
"A modern masterpiece and one of South Korea's most beloved novels, Whale is an epic saga that traces the multi-generational struggles of two female protagonists navigating the country’s tumultuous transition from a traditional to a modern society. Shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize, the novel’s vibrant world is brought to life through a fast-paced plot populated by marginalised figures--sex workers, labourers, tricksters, and criminals."