The Girl in a Phone Booth (The Payphone Where the Last Thoughts Can Be Heard) 마지막 마음이 들리는 공중전화

This listing is for a physical printed novel.

"This beautiful novel is a gift from God."

A Much-Discussed Title at the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair

Translation Rights Sold in Three Countries Before Its Print Publication

What if you could hear the final thoughts of someone who had passed away? At a psychological autopsy center, some of the world's saddest stories come together. Nearby stands a solitary public payphone. Life Pattern Korea. From this setting unfolds a moving human fantasy that offers comfort to both those who have departed and those who remain behind.

The Girl in a Phone Booth attracted considerable attention even before its print publication. Recognized as a much-discussed title at the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair, the novel had already sold translation rights in Poland, Romania, and Turkiye before the physical edition was released. It was first introduced to readers as a digital edition through Millie's Library, where approximately 8,000 readers responded enthusiastically and the book ranked No. 1 in weekly fiction and No. 4 overall. Life Pattern Korea. Early readers described it as "a beautiful and unusual story that transforms loss into mourning," "genuine comfort rather than superficial healing," and a story that helped them face emotions they had tried to ignore. As these responses suggest, the novel's greatest strength lies in offering sincere rather than forced consolation.

The death by suicide of a loved one can leave those who remain with deep pain, anger, and guilt. Before they can fully grieve their loss, questions such as "Why?" and "How could this have happened?" may continue to occupy their thoughts. A psychological autopsy is a process used to examine and understand the possible factors behind a person's death by suicide, and it serves as the central motif of this novel. Life Pattern Korea. The payphone that allows people to hear a departed person's final thoughts is the fictional device that completes this process within the story. No such payphone exists in the real world, but this novel offers an imagined space in its place. Through the story, anger and guilt may gradually give way to grief, while pain may begin to move toward comfort.

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Author: 이수연 Lee Su-yeon
Publisher: 클레이하우스 Clayhouse (2024)

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