Book: The Healing Season of Pottery

[elusivek]

The Healing Season of Pottery
Yeon Somin, Clare Richards (Translator)
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This cozy Korean bestseller invites readers into a warm, sunlit pottery studio where a burned-out young TV broadcast writer begins to heal, working the clay, piece by piece, season by season.

After breaking down at the office and abruptly quitting her job, thirty-year-old Jungmin holes up in her apartment, speaking to no one for days on end. When she finally emerges, she stumbles upon a pottery studio in her neighborhood and is invited in by the mysterious workshop teacher. The smell of clay, the light filtering through the plant filled windows, the friendly cat, and the incredible coffee the students drink awaken her senses and make her feel alive and inspired for the first time in months.

As the seasons change, Jungmin slowly returns to herself and builds a new community with the other members of the studio, who are all working through their own pasts at the pottery wheel. When the holidays approach and snow piles up on the studio windowsill, Jungmin realizes how much she has changed—with her hands busy and her mind clear, she may be ready to face the memories she’s been running from and open her heart.

For fans of What You Are Looking For Is in the Library and Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, Yeon’s charming English-language debut is a testament to the joy of slowing down in a fast-paced world, and an homage to the art of ceramics and the power of friendship. Readers won’t want to leave the enchanting world of The Healing Season of Pottery after the final page.

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This is now the third (maybe?) Book by a Korean author I’ve read. I think I kind of agree with some of the comments I’ve read by other readers, in that these feel-good or “found a new me” books by Korean authors are better than those of Japanese authors. I guess since I’m also taking some basic Korean classes, I wanted to get a feel of the language/culture/mentality by reading books by Korean authors.

The only thing I still couldn’t get accustomed to in these Korean books are the names - takes some time for me to recognize the names.

I was drawn to the book by the title, pottery, as it is now also part of my life, a hobby I’ve picked up and been consistently taking part of for 2 years. Similarly, I started the hobby due to a rather painful loss (my dachshund) and wanting to find some direction in life.

Personally I thought the book had a better beginning, and then between the 50%-70% part of the book was a bit… dragged on and going around in circles. Luckily everything wrapped up nicely in the end.