Quitting her job and divorcing her husband, Yeong-Ju, in a leap of faith, opens the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, and, welcoming new friends and visitors to her circle, builds an inviting space for hurt and lost souls to rest, heal and learn how to write their own stories.

"The year is 1951. Twenty-year-old wallflower Lee Kyung ekes out a living at the US Post Exchange, where goods and services of varying stripe are available for purchase. She peddles hand-painted portraits on silk handkerchiefs to soldiers passing through. When a handsome young northern escapee and erstwhile fine artist is hired despite waning demand, an unlikely friendship blossoms into a young woman's first brush with desire against the backdrop...

"Maya discovers stories and secrets from her family's past in Korea as her grandmother teaches her to cook and about their family's ability to time travel into memories via food"--

"Every day, more and more people fleeing war in the north show up at Kyung Tak and her family's house on the southeastern shore of Korea. With nowhere else to go, the Taks' home is these migrants' last chance of refuge "before falling into the sea," and the household quickly becomes crowded, hot, and noisy. Then war sirens cry out over Kyung's city too, and her family and their guests take shelter underground. When the sirens stop, Kyung is upset--she...