We review the debut novel by Frances Cha – If I Had Your Face – released in 2020 through Penguin Books.
The book is available for purchase here.
In 2020, Frances Cha released her debut novel – If I had Your Face – an astonishing debut about four different women in modern-day Korea and their divergent and interconnecting lives. Cha seamlessly weaves a story that reveals as much about the landscape of modern Korea – its attitude to sexuality, beauty and familial relationships – as she does about the inner psyches and friendships of the women that are the heart of her story. This is an important read to shift and open perceptions toward Korean culture, revealing the gritty and real underbelly of modern-day Seoul whilst couched in an immensely engaging and enthralling story.
It’s hard really to believe that this novel is Cha’s debut as she masterfully weaves together the threads of the women’s lives. Modern-day Korea’s fascination with plastic surgery – including jaw and eyelid surgery – has been very widely publicised, but the real impact that this has on the lives of the women for whom this is part of their daily experience, is fascinating. It’s grim but enthralling, and the characters are as problematic as they are likeable – from Kyuri, the beautiful but ‘plastic’ room salon girl, the mute hairdresser Ara, Wonna grappling with impending motherhood and the naturally beautiful artist Miho navigating her experience with a dazzlingly rich boyfriend. Although, from the outside, their lives appear modern and beautiful, each is battling with her own personal demons – from crippling debut to continued trauma – and the spectrum of human pain, suffering and emotional range is laid bare throughout the novel. Still, what rises transcendent in the novel is the theme of very real friendship and solidarity. The care the women show for each other is clear and compelling and the novel is a dizzying expose of the problems with modern fixations on beauty and wealth. If this is her debut, we can’t wait to see what Cha does next.
