South Korea

The Vegetarian
by Han Kang

Prompted by horrifying recurring nightmares, Yeong-hye decides to stop eating meat. In South Korea's strict and conservative society, where vegetarianism is almost unheard of, this decision is seen as a shocking act of subversion. Han Kang won the Man Booker Prize in 2016 for this unnerving and sensual novel, which unfolds like a psychological thriller, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2024.

Translated by Deborah Smith
Portobello Books, 2015
First published in 2007
ISBN 9781846275623