If I Had Your Face

'Gripping' Curtis Sittenfeld * 'Electrifying' Taylor Jenkins Reid * 'Remarkable' Kevin Kwan * 'Stunning' Sunday Times * 'Brilliant' Pandora Sykes In South Korea, where impossible beauty standards and ruthless social hierarchies dictate your every move, four women are balancing on a razor's edge: Kyuri, a beautiful 'room salon' girl paid to entertain wealthy businessmen after hours. Miho, an artist whose life becomes enmeshed with the offspring of the super-wealthy elite. Ara, a hairstylist whose obsession with a K-pop star leads her to violent extremes. Wonna, their neighbour, pregnant with a child that she can't afford. Set in the drinking dens and beauty salons of Seoul, If I Had Your Face is an electrifying debut novel about female strength, resilience and the solace that friendship can provide. 'Cha's writing always crackles . . . Touching, compelling and icily cool' Observer 'Fascinating, eye-opening, compelling - like the film Parasite , If I Had Your Face is also an exposé of the class system in South Korea' Independent 'Absolutely stunning. . . Assured, bold, and electrifying' Taylor Jenkins Reid, Sunday Times bestselling author of DAISY JONES & THE SIX and MALIBU RISING ' One of the buzziest debuts of the year, If I Had Your Face transports readers to glittering, futuristic Seoul... Essential reading ' Vogue 'Culturally fascinating, emotionally layered, gripping and smart' Curtis Sittenfeld, bestselling author of PREP and AMERICAN WIFE 'Glittering, engrossing' Helen Oyeyemi, author of GINGERBREAD 'Remarkable, brilliantly crafted and devastatingly exquisite' Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of CRAZY RICH ASIANS 'I finished it in two sittings, have re-read it twice since and I'd still happily read it again - it's a serious contender for one of my favourite books ever.' Red LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2021

'Gripping' Curtis Sittenfeld * 'Electrifying' Taylor Jenkins Reid * 'Remarkable' Kevin Kwan * 'Stunning' Sunday Times * 'Brilliant' Pandora Sykes In South Korea, where impossible beauty standards and ruthless social hierarchies dictate your every move, four women are balancing on a razor's edge: Kyuri, a beautiful 'room salon' girl paid to entertain wealthy businessmen after hours. Miho, an artist whose life becomes enmeshed with the offspring of the super-wealthy elite. Ara, a hairstylist whose obsession with a K-pop star leads her to violent extremes. Wonna, their neighbour, pregnant with a child that she can't afford. Set in the drinking dens and beauty salons of Seoul, If I Had Your Face is an electrifying debut novel about female strength, resilience and the solace that friendship can provide. 'Cha's writing always crackles . . . Touching, compelling and icily cool' Observer 'Fascinating, eye-opening, compelling - like the film Parasite , If I Had Your Face is also an exposé of the class system in South Korea' Independent 'Absolutely stunning. . . Assured, bold, and electrifying' Taylor Jenkins Reid, Sunday Times bestselling author of DAISY JONES & THE SIX and MALIBU RISING ' One of the buzziest debuts of the year, If I Had Your Face transports readers to glittering, futuristic Seoul... Essential reading ' Vogue 'Culturally fascinating, emotionally layered, gripping and smart' Curtis Sittenfeld, bestselling author of PREP and AMERICAN WIFE 'Glittering, engrossing' Helen Oyeyemi, author of GINGERBREAD 'Remarkable, brilliantly crafted and devastatingly exquisite' Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of CRAZY RICH ASIANS 'I finished it in two sittings, have re-read it twice since and I'd still happily read it again - it's a serious contender for one of my favourite books ever.' Red LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2021

A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop mania "Powerful and provocative . . . a novel about female strength, spirit, resilience--and the solace that friendship can sometimes provide."-- The Washington Post NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time - NPR - Esquire - Bustle - BBC - New York Post - InStyle Kyuri is an achingly beautiful woman with a hard-won job at a Seoul "room salon," an exclusive underground bar where she entertains businessmen while they drink. Though she prides herself on her cold, clear-eyed approach to life, an impulsive mistake threatens her livelihood. Kyuri's roommate, Miho, is a talented artist who grew up in an orphanage but won a scholarship to study art in New York. Returning to Korea after college, she finds herself in a precarious relationship with the heir to one of the country's biggest conglomerates. Down the hall in their building lives Ara, a hairstylist whose two preoccupations sustain her: an obsession with a boy-band pop star, and a best friend who is saving up for the extreme plastic surgery that she hopes will change her life. And Wonna, one floor below, is a newlywed trying to have a baby that she and her husband have no idea how they can afford to raise in Korea's brutal economy. Together, their stories tell a gripping tale at once unfamiliar and unmistakably universal, in which their tentative friendships may turn out to be the thing that ultimately saves them.

A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop mania "Powerful and provocative . . . a novel about female strength, spirit, resilience--and the solace that friendship can sometimes provide."-- The Washington Post NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time - NPR - Esquire - Bustle - BBC - New York Post - InStyle Kyuri is an achingly beautiful woman with a hard-won job at a Seoul "room salon," an exclusive underground bar where she entertains businessmen while they drink. Though she prides herself on her cold, clear-eyed approach to life, an impulsive mistake threatens her livelihood. Kyuri's roommate, Miho, is a talented artist who grew up in an orphanage but won a scholarship to study art in New York. Returning to Korea after college, she finds herself in a precarious relationship with the heir to one of the country's biggest conglomerates. Down the hall in their building lives Ara, a hairstylist whose two preoccupations sustain her: an obsession with a boy-band pop star, and a best friend who is saving up for the extreme plastic surgery that she hopes will change her life. And Wonna, one floor below, is a newlywed trying to have a baby that she and her husband have no idea how they can afford to raise in Korea's brutal economy. Together, their stories tell a gripping tale at once unfamiliar and unmistakably universal, in which their tentative friendships may turn out to be the thing that ultimately saves them.