What’s up, bookish FRIENDS! It’s that time of the month again for another book club hosted by our fave literary babe, Alexis Patterson, AKA The Brooklyn Bookworm. This month’s book selection is IF I HAD YOUR FACE by Frances Cha, and lucky for us, she’s joining the book discussion on May 4th at 6pm on Instagram Live. Pick up a copy and join us live!
IF I HAD YOUR FACE is a riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossibly high standards of beauty, secret room salons catering to wealthy men, strict social hierarchies, and K-pop fan mania.
Frances Cha is a former travel and culture editor for CNN in Seoul. She grew up in the United States, Hong Kong, and South Korea. A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Columbia University MFA writing program, she has written for The Atlantic, The Believer, and the Yonhap News Agency, among others, and has lectured at Columbia University, Ewha Womans University, Seoul National University, and Yonsei University. She lives in Brooklyn.
In an interview with the NY Times, Cha says it took her 25 years to write a book about the people she encountered everyday in South Korea. All her previous protagonists were white with blonde hair and blue eyes, which is not who she saw reflected in her own mirror. This is so often the story, and why representation in literature is so important. [For more on this, we HIGHLY recommend Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi’s TED Talk on “The Danger of a Single Story.”]
We can’t wait to dig deep into the themes of this novel with Frances Cha and Alexis Patterson. On the table: impossible beauty standards, women navigating rigid cultural hierarchies, and the plastic surgery craze of contemporary Korean culture. What questions do you have? This is a unique opportunity to connect with the writer herself!
Inspiration awaits… May 4th at 6pm Eastern, on Instagram Live!
