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Title details for Yeonnam-Dong's Smiley Laundromat by Kim Jiyun - Available

Yeonnam-Dong's Smiley Laundromat

by Kim Jiyun
ebook
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1 of 1 copy available
For readers who loved Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Book Shop, this heartwarming Korean bestseller tells the story of a mysterious diary left in a laundromat brings together patrons from all walks of life.
Yeonnam-Dong's Smiley Laundromat is a place where the extraordinary stories of ordinary people unfold. Situated at the heart of rapidly gentrifying district of Seoul, the laundromat is a haven of peace and reflection for many locals.

And when a notebook is left behind there, it becomes a place that brings people together. One by one, customers start jotting down candid diary entries, opening their hearts and inviting acts of kindness from neighbours who were once just faces in the crowd.

But there is a darker story behind the notebook, and before long the laundromat's regulars are teaming up to solve the mystery and put the world to rights.

Instantly capturing the hearts of readers around the world, this is a novel about the preciousness of human relationships and the power of solidarity in a world that is increasingly cold, fast-paced, and virtual.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 7, 2025

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781639368044

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781639368044
      • File size: 4556 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      December 1, 2024

      Kim's debut, a bestseller in Korea, is a literary healing fiction title about a laundromat in Seoul that is a haven for its patrons. When a notebook is left behind amid the laundry, customers begin to write diary entries in it and eventually join forces to solve a mystery and make the world a better place. Prepub Alert.

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      Starred review from December 1, 2024
      Amidst contemporary challenges ranging from daily chaos to genocidal war, more books featuring quotidian places transformed into restorative havens are hitting shelves, featuring caf�s, libraries, shops, and, more recently, laundromats, where troubled souls can get refreshed. Welcome to Smiley Laundromat, open 24/7 in Seoul's Yeonnam-dong neighborhood. Besides the usual machines, there are free coffee and wonderful books to share; also inside is an olive-green diary that becomes an inviting confessional-of-sorts. Between the pages, strangers make serendipitous connections, revealed in La Ronde-esque chapters. While Old Jang and his canine soulmate, Jindol, wash a Jindol-accidented blanket, Old Jang notices a troubling entry, "I don't want to live anymore. Why is life so hard?" He meets exhausted Mira, a repeat visitor struggling with so much more than her daughter's bedwetting, which leads to mutually lifesaving bonds. Fortuitous links continue. A struggling screenwriter finds true love, a songwriter goes viral, a bullied art student reclaims her agency, an older brother avenges his younger brother's suicide, a father and son reconcile. Strangers--who recognize each other from the distinct scent of the amber-lavender cotton dryer sheets that follows (and guards?) them--become protectors, friends, even family, as the mysterious diary enables intertwined paths while revealing deeper truths. Debuting author Kim's bestseller, smoothly translated by polyglot Tan, provides lucky anglophone audiences with a welcoming escape.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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