Set to be released next year on Jan. 21, The Rainfall Market is a dash of fantasy and magical realism reminiscent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Wizard of Oz, but author You Young-Gwang adds some Korean flair by pouring Dokkaebi, the goblins of Korean folklore, into the mix.
Rainfall Market, a world run by Dokkaebi, is located in a decrepit house in a little village in Rainbow Town. Rumor has it that a few select people who write letters about their difficulties are invited to swap their life for another one at Rainfall Market. These participants will be sent a ticket, and at the start of the rainy season, they will need to come to Rainfall Market to pick out a new life.
Serin Kim is a high school student who desperately wants to escape her life. She and her mother live in a building slated to be demolished, but they can’t afford to move. Her father passed away when she was very young, and her younger sister, Yerin, ran away from home the previous year. Though she would like to go to university, she knows her single mother can’t afford it, so she dreams of becoming a professional tae kwon do martial artist, an activity she can afford to do because she qualifies to learn for free.
The only friend she has is her father’s radio, which comforts her.
One day she receives a golden ticket in the mail, thus launching her new adventure. At the Rainfall Market, she learns new lives are encapsulated within Dokkaebi Orbs, and each store at the market has one. To gain ownership, she must buy a product or service at a store with the money she got from selling her life to the Misfortune Pawnshop. Only humans can use these orbs. The only caveat is that she must leave the Market before the end of the rainy season or else she will disappear.
To her surprise, Serin finds out golden ticket holders have VIP status: they have the privilege of picking out more than one life and can even sample the orb to see what sort of life it holds. To help them in their quest, they are given spirit guides who will lead them to the orb they desire. Serin’s spirit guide is Issha, a small cat with a voracious appetite. He has the ability to change sizes and seems to confuse himself for a dog.
As she goes on her quest to find the perfect life, she meets various Dokkaebi storeowners and has different adventures along the way, collecting orbs as she goes. For example, there is Emma, senior stylist at the Hair Salon, who has an orb about being a university student; Mata, the almost deaf bookshop keeper, who has an orb about corporate work life; Nicole, the owner at the perfumery, who has an orb about life as a small business owner; and Popo the gardener, who has an orb about life with a stable job.
Through her various encounters, she learns about the legendary Rainbow Orb, an orb even Dokkaebi can use, creating a side quest for herself to find it. Along the way, she slowly realizes each Dokkaebi she visits experience theft. She soon realizes something is not quite right about the magical Rainfall Market, especially when she starts to hear humans are going missing.
Serin must figure out friend from foe as she suspects dark forces are trailing her, some looking suspiciously like large, shadowy spiders. Will she be able to find her true happiness in time? Or will she be lost forever? And who exactly is Chief Yan, master of the Rainfall Market?
First-time author You Young-Gwang wrote this book while he was working as a food delivery driver. His perseverance helped his book gain the publicity it needed to get a book deal after three crowdfunding attempts. In many ways, The Rainfall Market seems to mirror the experience he gained from his own life.
“What kind of book did I want to write?” wrote You in the acknowledgments. “Something that left readers with a lingering sense of warmth, even after they turned the last page. A light, fun read that was still packed with meaning. A book that could heal wounded hearts and cast a ray of hope into the darkness.”
You’s delightful book is exactly what he describes: a magical world of Korean folklore thrust into a fantasy setting that spools in aspects of Western storytelling, all while giving equal measures of cozy warmth and feelings of adventure. There are some aspects of the story that left me unsatisfied, such as the whereabouts of her missing sister and the lack of explanation regarding how or why people go missing at the Market. The issue about the demolition of her apartment is also forgotten by the end of the novel.
Perhaps the author’s intention is to address these unresolved plotlines in a future sequel? If so, there are certainly opportunities to expand upon the story in future volumes. An international bestseller, The Rainfall Market is a sure pick for fans of cozy books and magical realism.
