Lemon by Kwon Yeo-sun

Translated by Janet Hong

I'm a firm believer in judging a book by its cover. Like the artwork for Lemon, the story is abstract, surreal and yet strangely bright and simple. The book opens with a young man being questioned about the murder of a young woman but this is as far as the investigation goes, and even then, this is in the imagination of the victim's sister.

The plot is straightforward: a young woman student is found dead and no one is caught for committing her murder. The years pass and life goes on but the ripples from her death continue. The story is told from a few perspectives, which are sometimes confusing in that the first person narrator is not clear. Mostly it is from her younger sister but also from a classmate and young romantic rival, with a follow-up of the life of the young man questioned in the opening of the book.

It is far from a crime thriller but a story about grief, life and death and how people navigate around this. An intense and original book with a psychological challenge, it is often poetic but always engaging. Worth a reread to appreciate the true quality.

ajsefton.com/book-reviews

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Published by Apollo on 14 October 2021.
​Advance review copy supplied by the publisher.