Intense and just.
Heartbreaking.
My heart is in very severe pain. It aches.

Edited Review: 24/4/2023

I guess it took me quite a while to put my coherent thoughts on this beautiful novel. I picked this book during one of those days - where I didn't want to think much but just feel - and this book gave me all of it. Its a quiet yet heart-wrenching read that on the surface seemed to be a story that revolves around a girl who is eccentric and found solace with the flowers that she found, but its more than that. Its a story of the repression of women and their voices in society , its the story of the abuses, loud and quiet that has been inflicted to women and its a story of a woman who is more than what she grants herself for . With the beautiful prose by Kyung-Sook Shin, translated by the ever lovely Anton Hur - this book is a reticent work that makes the voice of the characters seemed loud and interlaced with the language of flowers in producing one of the best books I've read for awhile.

For Violets is seemed to be an ordinary flower, almost be looking like a wallflower - is always there but never really looked closely to - its the depiction of women in society in the POV of San, her life and the friendship that she built with Namae and the flowers that she worked in a flower shop. Some Major Disclaimers , I feel that with all books, there is a time for it - and I highly suggest picking this book up when you totally be immersed in the story - as the proses can be tight and suffocating even if the book seemed like a short read.

I honestly want to hug San so bad, to a point that it made me ache so much for her whilst reading the story. She is one of the characters that I've come across that will never leave my head for the most pitiful. The title Violets and the cover made so much sense when the story came to an end. Its showing how women had been so oppressed with their voices that they were forced to choose violence - even by inflicting it on themselves - to leave a mark to the world.

Whilst Kyung Sook Shin has one of the best written proses I've read in Korean Literature that will make you want to hurl things at somebody whilst feeling very calm (weird feeling I know), I feel that this book showed how Exquisite and Breathtaking her writing is. I loved how she incorporated flowers and the environment in general in this book. It almost felt like I was there, watching San's life in an old movie theatre, where you'll be transported into a place that felt almost ethereal. Shin had conveyed each and every feeling of the character - interwoven beautifully into a story of a woman in search of herself and mostly of her life's meaning. Not many authors can take you on that journey and I have to thank the translator for doing such a good job in conveying each proses with precision. You can feel how much the translator is invested in this book, and I am thankful that I get to read more exceptional works from both the author and the translator himself.

There was a line in the Author's notes that had gotten me really teary :-

And indeed, the author had did just that with the story. The tone is mellow, and tranquil but it holds a significance amount of hurricane, expressed through the emotions of the characters and the repression of woman and the minority has to face throughout their whole lives. It showed how a mundane woman can never raise her voice unless amplified through a story like this, talked about and discussed and perhaps lead to a better change in this world.

I hope someday, that no matter who, your voice will be amplified as well. Seek help when you need. My thoughts can never do justice to how this book had made me felt, but I hope for once, you could be seen through this story.

Personal Ratings: 4.5🌟

Thank you to @definitelybooks for this copy :)