BONOBO by You-Jeong Jeong

Publisher's Weekly Starred Review

You-jeong Jeong, trans. from the Korean by An Seon Jae. Creature, (280p) ISBN 978-1-951971-51-9

Set in a South Korean primate research center, this brilliant ecothriller from You-jeong (Perfect Happiness), follows passive primatologist Lee Jini. When a bonobo escapes, Jini’s eccentric mentor, Professor Jang, asks her to accompany him on the rescue mission.

Gifted at communicating with primates, though not so much with humans, Jini coaxes the young female from a tree and bonds instantly with it. So much so that she wonders if it might be the same bonobo she found trapped in a poacher’s cage years earlier; she could have freed the animal but did not and has been haunted by the incident ever since. Jini, Jang, and the bonobo, named “Genie,” get in a car accident on the way back to the research center, the aftermath of which has Jini’s consciousness leaving her body and entering the bonobo, which managed to survive and is on the loose.

To reunite with her body, currently undergoing surgery, Jini-as-Genie needs help from Minjoo, a drifter from Seoul who’s visiting the research center. You-jeong’s dextrous handling of what could be a chaotic plot, complete with sharply drawn characters and thematic explorations of nonverbal communication, primate consciousness, and nonhuman mind-body experiences, impresses. This thought-provoking tale is hard to put down. (Sept.)

Coming soon -- from Creature Publishing in North America and Honford Star in UK & Commonwealth -- See the Publisher's Weekly starred review