This is Jeong Hyeongnam’s first novel in two years since he published Pork Belly. Set in the humble atmosphere of a rural village, the story portrays the trivial lives and sweet, garrulous chatter of the village people, but also employs elegant prose to focus on deeper subject matter, such as history and the individual. The book describes the sorrowful life of a family that lived in a tragic age—something we could never refer to as fate.

The novel begins with a seventy-three year old woman recalling the past. It shares with readers a daughter’s longing for her father, from whom she was parted with due to a tragic history. With great affection but also great care not to make the story too heavy, the writer describes the tragic life of the daughter, who each year conducts traditional ancestralrites for the dead in memory of her father—not knowing whether he is actually dead or alive—when the persimmon blossoms fall.