Dear Rose # 32 - Finding sanctuary in the “Soyangri Book Kitchen”

Rose is an amalgam of us - women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond who are looking for somewhere they are seen, heard and listened to.

Dear Rose,

I discovered something today that I absolutely have to tell you about: Healing Fiction.

It’s a genre of books—often from Japan or Korea—that focuses on slow living, small delights, and the art of being present. These stories are usually set in bookshops, cafés, or artistic spaces like pottery studios. "Nothing much happens" in these books, but they are incredibly heartwarming.

The one I finished today is called Soyangri Book Kitchen by Kim Jee-hye. It tells the story of Yoojin, who, after being burnt out by the corporate world and her own start-up, packs it all in and moves to the countryside to open a bookshop-café-hotel. Over the course of her first year, she hosts several guests who are all healing from their own burnout; they find the "Book Kitchen" to be a soothing, soulful sanctuary.

As I write this letter and describe the book to you, I can see the parallels to my own life: getting burnt out by the corporate world, making my way to the country, and starting my own soul-aligned business that welcomes others who need care and healing.

The book was so beautiful that I’m not ready to take it back to the library yet. I want to stay in its presence for a little bit longer. This has never happened to me before.

Love, Em xx