KIM HAE-SOL

books

JUNIPER TREE

Kyobo / Korea (2025), Winner of the Story Prize, Translated by Brother Anthony

Gothic, reminiscent of Joyce Carol Oates and We Need to Talk About Kevin, Juniper Tree traces the story of unsettling family secrets. Bloodlines carry stories, but not all are meant to be told.

Kim Yeong-joo’s life is an intricate tapestry woven from nightmares, choices, and the shadow of her estranged mother. Pregnant after an impulsive one-night stand and facing a bitter divorce, Yeong-joo feels trapped in a life that isn’t her own. Haunted by a recurring childhood dream of a juniper tree under which bones were buried, she wonders if escape is possible—or if her family’s dark legacy will consume her.

As Yeong-joo wrestles with raising her precocious son Seon-ho, she is forced to move into her childhood home with her estranged mother because of caretaking issues and confront unsettling truths. Her son, though the light of her life, carries an inexplicable darkness that frightens even her.

When accidents and eerie occurrences pile up, Yeong-joo begins to question: is Seon-ho cursed by the same shadow she has spent her life running from? Or is it something far more sinister? Does it have anything to do with that cursed juniper tree? And her estranged mother brings back nightmarish memories, making her imagine the worst of what might have happened to her late father who suddenly died all those years ago.