If I Had Your Face
If I Had Your Face is narrated in turns by four young women struggling to find belonging in a world that values wealth, beauty, and fame above all else.
Kyuri’s stunning good looks — reshaped piece by piece by a high-end surgeon — have landed her a job in an exclusive room salon, where she pours drinks and provides company for wealthy businessmen. Miho’s artistic talent helped her escape a bleak upbringing in an orphanage, and she now juggles her successful career as an artist and her relationship with the heir to one of South Korea’s greatest fortunes. Ara is a mute hairstylist who fills her days with work and an all-consuming obsession with a boy band idol. And newlywed Wonna is trying desperately to have a baby despite misgivings about her marriage.
These women live in the same apartment building in Seoul, yet their lives often seem worlds apart. As their stories intertwine and collide, their carefully constructed facades begin to crumble
Quote:
“The other day at my clinic, I finally saw the actual girl that I modeled my face after: Candy, the lead singer from that girl group Charming. She was sitting in the waiting room when I walked in, slumped in the corner with hair spilling messily out of a black cap.
I went to sit beside her because I wanted to see how clear the likeness was. I’d brought in photos of Candy’s face when I had my first consultations with Dr. Shim. She has a slight upturned bump at the end of her nose that makes her so uniquely, startlingly beautiful […]
When the nurse called her name and she stood up to walk in, she turned to look at me and our eyes met, as if she could hear what I was thinking. I wanted to reach over and shake her by the shoulders. Stop running around like a fool, I wanted to say. You have so much and you can do anything you want. I would live your life so much better than you, if I had your face.”
Author:
Frances Cha is an author, editor, and professor; If I Had Your Face is her first novel. She has worked as an editor for CNN and Samsung Economic Research Institute, and has taught at Ewha Womens University, Yonsei University, and Columbia University. Born in the U.S., she now splits her time between Brooklyn and Seoul.
Published: 2020
Length: 268 pages
Set in: Seoul, South Korea