Jin-yeong, Jang: The Crustacean

I want to come back as a crab. A crab‘s skin is made of bone and the flesh is inside the bone. But we‘re the opposite. We have bone inside flesh. Chichirim is a plain, neglected girl. Her parents forget about her birthday and the boys at school always take more interest in her best friend. She‘s desperate to climb the social ladder and be noticed, by anybody. When she meets a middle-aged assistant director at her sister‘s job, he makes her feel beautiful and different, and she convinces herself that she must love him. Terrified, detached, and longing for intimacy, she submits to his violent sexual demands whilst convincing herself that he makes her life worth living. When she discovers she is pregnant, her sister takes charge, arranging for an abortion and his prosecution. But all is not what it seems. The people Chichirim trusted and loved the most have their own agenda. And only twenty years later, looking back at her childhood, does she understand their true intentions. At turns defiant, tragic, funny, and shocking, THE CRUSTACEAN is an intricately-crafted novel exploring memory, exploitation, and the lasting effects of betrayal.