Oxford Soju Club

Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park is an incredibly satisfying combination of spy intrigue and rumination on the struggle immigrants face with finding identity and meaning while navigating different cultures.

The intrigue comes from the plot which revolves around North Korean, South Korean, and Korean-American spies maneuvering around each other in the city of Oxford in England, as they carry out competing orders in a time of upheaval. The ruminations come from the novel's focus on how the characters feel about the life choices that brought them to the sleepy foreign city, their thoughts on their present, and their fears for the future. Both elements weave expertly around each other and provide drama both emotional and kinetic.

The novel starts with the mystery of the murder of a senior North Korean spy and jumps around in time as if follows about a half dozen characters affected by the death. Park doesn't hold the reader's hand or hold back on shocking developments, and his writing moves at a brisk place, but if readers trust him, as they should, they'll find he provides answers in due course which are satisfying while keeping questions open until the final pages. The final question asked by one of the main characters, especially is incredibly emotive and a worthy emotional climax. Deep dives into Korean culture, especially in the form of cuisine, add rich subtext and authenticity as do the evocative descriptions of the geography of Oxford and the interior of the titular restaurant, "The Oxford Soju Club" where a lot of the story takes place.

This is a story that rewards multiple read throughs. The various plot riddles and their resolutions are prominent in the first go around. After this, with the major mysteries solved, subsequent reads feel like a conversation with a thoughtful friend about the oddities of living a life caught between multiple worlds.

Highly recommended to fans of either intrigue, deep character studies, or immigrant stories. As I enjoy all three, this was an amazing story to have experienced.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for sending me an advance reader's copy for review consideration. All opinions are my own.