If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha, 4 stars

[Holly R W]

This novel follows five women as they go about their daily lives in Seoul, Korea. With the exception of one woman who is married and in her 30's (Wonna), the women are single and 22 years old. They live in the same apartment building. Their names are: Ara, Kyuri, Miho, Sujin and Wonna. With the exception of Sujin, chapters alternate, with each woman narrating her own situation.

Before reading the story, I was under the misconception that it would be about the cosmetic surgeries that are so popular in South Korea. While Kyuri and Sujin undergo what I consider to be radical plastic surgery to achieve beauty, the novel is much more encompassing. Each character has had a challenging life. Sujin and Miho grew up in an orphanage, after being abandoned by their familes. Miho becomes a talented artist who creates lifelike sculptures with disturbing aspects to them. Kyuri works at a "room salon", catering to wealthy and spoiled businessmen who treat her as a sexual play thing. Ara is a hairdresser, who became mute as a teen after a street fight. Wonna, the married woman, had a difficult childhood, being raised by her abusive grandmother. She wants to have a baby, desperately.

Most of the male characters in the book are depicted in unflattering ways. I also thought that the author could have tempered the amount of trauma her characters underwent.

All in all, I found myself absorbed with both the characters and the setting, South Korea. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel.

[NancyJ]

Thanks for the review. The cover is very familiar but I had no idea what it was really about. It sounds interesting. I think the only books I read from Korea were historical, not contemporary.

[Holly R W]

Thanks for commenting, Nancy. I've read very little about South Korea and enjoyed that this book took me there.