The Seoul Letter Shop

Author: Seungyeon, Baek

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 16 July 2026 by HarperCollins Publishers (Fourth Estate Ltd) in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 272 pages
140 x 218 x 29 | 292g

A touching testament to the power of letter writing and connecting with strangers, for fans of Days at the Morisaki Bookshop and What You're Looking For is in the Library.

Hyoyoung feels trapped in her small hometown after her dreams of becoming a filmmaker have been dashed, and so when a friend asks her to come and work at his boutique letter shop in Seoul’s Yeonhui-dong district, she jumps at the chance.

The shop is stocked with irresistible pens, papers and envelopes, and Hyoyoung is soon beguiled by its charms. She is particularly intrigued by the shop’s pen pal service, where customers can pick up an anonymous letter to read, as long as they agree to write an anonymous letter in return. Hyoyoung observes the shop’s customers secret correspondence with each other, as they express their deepest fears and most ardent desires to people they've never met. Each of the customers has their own story to tell, and as her connection with them deepens, it’s not long before Hyoyoung discovers the healing, transformative power of the handwritten letter herself …