In a world where connection often comes through screens and algorithms, Kim Jiyun’s debut novel “Yeonnam-dong’s Smiley Laundromat” offers something refreshingly analog: a community formed around a physical space and a handwritten diary. Set in the trendy Yeonnam-dong district of Seoul—a neighborhood in transition, where traditional homes are rapidly being replaced by cafés and boutiques—this collection of interwoven stories explores how strangers become neighbors, and neighbors become friends.
The titular laundromat serves as both setting and metaphor—a place where stains are washed away and people find fresh starts. What begins as a standard neighborhood business becomes something more when an olive-green diary is mysteriously left behind. As patrons discover and contribute to it, the notebook becomes a confessional space where worries can be shared anonymously and solace offered by unexpected allies.
Five Interwoven Stories Spun Together
Rather than following a single protagonist, Kim weaves together five distinct narratives that gradually intersect:
Take Care of the Tomato Plant: When Jung Yeonwoo breaks up with her boyfriend after discovering he’s been sharing intimate details about her with his friends, she’s devastated. A serendipitous encounter with a stray kitten and an elderly resident named Old Jang offers unexpected comfort.
A Midsummer Romance: Assistant writer Han Yeoreum struggles with professional jealousy when her junior colleague wins a screenwriting competition. Her chance encounter with street musician Hajoon through the diary creates an unexpected romance.
The Umbrella: After a violent breakup where her ex-boyfriend hits her with an umbrella, Yeonwoo adopts a stray kitten named Maeari (Ari). When the kitten goes missing, the laundromat community bands together to help find it.
Lost and Found: Gu Jaeyeol, grieving his brother’s suicide after falling victim to a voice phishing scam, uses the diary to sketch the scammer’s portrait. With help from the laundromat’s regular patrons, they set a trap to catch the criminal.
Jujube Ssanghwa-tang: Plastic surgeon Jang Daeju struggles financially after taking moonlighting jobs to support his son studying abroad. His strained relationship with his father, Old Jang, begins to heal through the shared diary.
Tender Resilience in Modern Korea
Kim Jiyun’s strength lies in capturing the subtle vulnerabilities of her characters with compassion but never sentimentality. Each protagonist faces a different challenge—grief, financial strain, heartbreak, professional disappointment—yet all find solace in unexpected connections forged through the anonymous diary.
The novel skillfully addresses several themes relevant to contemporary Korean society:
Gentrification and housing insecurity: Old Jang’s traditional house stands as one of the few remaining residential buildings in an increasingly commercial district, highlighting tensions between preserving the past and embracing change.
Financial precarity: Multiple characters struggle with money, from Mira’s unemployment to Daeju’s secret delivery job, reflecting real economic pressures in Korean society.
Technology-enabled crimes: The voice phishing scam that leads to Yooyeol’s suicide showcases the dark side of digital connectivity.
Intergenerational conflict: The strained relationship between Old Jang and his son Daeju reveals differing values regarding success, family, and meaningful living.
Stylistic Elements: Warmth and Quiet Moments
Kim’s prose demonstrates remarkable restraint. Like the cotton scent of freshly dried laundry that frequently appears throughout the novel, her writing has a clean, comforting quality—simple but never simplistic. The author excels at:
Sensory details: The warm amber and cotton scent of the laundromat, the taste of jujube tea, the texture of a stray kitten’s fur—all invite readers into the characters’ experiences.
Symbolism: From the titular laundry machines that wash away worries to the crushing burden of a black umbrella, objects carry emotional weight throughout the narrative.
Quiet revelations: Kim allows characters to arrive at their own epiphanies through small moments rather than dramatic confrontations. When plastic surgeon Daeju finally tastes his father’s jujube tea, the moment carries profound emotional significance.
Critical Assessment: Strengths and Limitations
“Yeonnam-dong’s Smiley Laundromat” succeeds magnificently in creating an atmosphere of gentle healing, but it’s not without its imperfections.
Strengths:
Character development: Each protagonist feels distinct and fully realized, with complex motivations and believable flaws.
Sense of place: Yeonnam-dong comes alive as a neighborhood in transition, with its mix of traditional homes and trendy cafés creating a compelling backdrop.
Emotional resonance: The novel achieves depth without manipulation, allowing readers to empathize with characters’ struggles without feeling emotionally exploited.
Limitations:
Structural imbalance: Some stories receive significantly more development than others. Yeonwoo’s narrative dominates two of the five sections, while other engaging characters receive less attention.
Convenient coincidences: The interconnections between characters occasionally feel too neatly arranged, with chance encounters driving the plot forward in ways that strain credibility.
Idealized resolutions: While most conflicts reach satisfying conclusions, some resolutions happen too tidily, lacking the messy complexity of real-life reconciliations.
Cultural Context: Korean Healing Fiction
“Yeonnam-dong’s Smiley Laundromat” belongs to the “healing fiction” genre that has gained popularity in recent years throughout East Asia. Like Hwang Bo-reum’s “Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop” (also translated by Shanna Tan) or Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s “Before the Coffee Gets Cold,” it offers stressed readers a comforting retreat into spaces where human connection becomes possible.
What distinguishes Kim’s approach is her unwillingness to provide simplistic answers. Characters’ problems—financial strain, family estrangement, career disappointment—aren’t magically solved. Instead, they gain perspective, support, and the courage to face difficulties, making the healing they experience feel earned rather than contrived.
Translation Quality: Preserving Nuance
Shanna Tan’s translation deserves special commendation for capturing the subtle emotional register of Kim’s writing. Korean expressions and cultural references are seamlessly integrated, maintaining authenticity without alienating non-Korean readers. Particularly impressive is Tan’s ability to convey different characters’ speech patterns—from Old Jang’s formal, traditional phrasing to Sewoong’s casual, sometimes abrupt manner.
Final Assessment: A Gentle, Necessary Novel
In our increasingly isolated digital world, “Yeonnam-dong’s Smiley Laundromat” reads almost like a manifesto for analog connection. Kim Jiyun reminds us that healing often comes through vulnerability—the willingness to share our troubles and listen to others’. Through her ensemble cast of endearing characters, she captures the beautiful ordinariness of human resilience.
While some plot points rely too heavily on coincidence, and certain storylines receive uneven development, these flaws don’t diminish the novel’s considerable achievements. Like the laundromat itself, this book offers readers a quiet haven—a place to witness the spinning cycles of human struggle and emergence, renewed.
For readers seeking gentle fiction that addresses real emotional complexity, “Yeonnam-dong’s Smiley Laundromat” provides an ideal immersion into the healing power of community in contemporary Seoul. As Kim writes in the epilogue: “The hardest thing to do is to open up to others, and to have someone who listens to your heart is the greatest blessing.” This novel provides exactly that blessing to its readers.
A warm, compassionate debut that occasionally loses structural balance but consistently delivers emotional authenticity.