dd's Umbrella

What was it they were battling? Their smallness, of course, their smallness. A delicate and arresting queer novel from one of Korea's most celebrated contemporary writers d, a nonbinary gig worker living in Seoul, briefly escapes the grasp of isolation when they meet dd, only to be ensnared by grief when dd dies in a car accident. Meanwhile, the world around them reckons with the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster that left more than 300 dead. As formally inventive as it is evocative, dd's Umbrella is composed of twin novellas. The first is told from the perspective of d, and the second from the perspective of a writer researching a book they may never write. Both figures dwell in society's margins-queer, working-class, and part of nontraditional family structures. As people across Korea come together to protest the government's handling of the Sewol ferry disaster, and to impeach the right-wing president in office, the novel examines how progressive movements coexist with social exclusion, particularly of women and sexual minorities, invisibilised in service of the 'greater cause'. dd's Umbrella is a meditative and off-centre novel about mourning and revolution.

'It's tender and revealing portrait of characters on the margins.' -- Publishers Weekly From one of Korea's most celebrated contemporary writers, a novel about queer family-building and resistance in the aftermath of the Candlelight Revolution. d, a nonbinary gig worker living in Seoul, briefly escapes the grasp of isolation when they meet dd, only to be ensnared by grief when dd dies in a car accident. As d grapples with personal loss, South Korea reckons with the aftermath of the Sewol ferry disaster that claimed over 300 lives. This formally inventive novel is composed of two novellas: the first from d's perspective and the second from that of a writer contemplating a book they may never write. Both figures live on the margins--queer, working-class, and part of nontraditional family structures. As protests over the Sewol ferry disaster and calls for the president's impeachment sweep Korea, the novel explores how progressive movements often sideline women and sexual minorities in pursuit of the 'greater cause'. dd's Umbrella is a meditative and off-centre novel about mourning and revolution.