"A DISTINCTLY KOREAN TAKE ON GREAT EXPECTATIONS." Financial Times

A woman sells her daughter to a passing beekeeper for two jars of honey. A baby weighing fifteen pounds is born in the depths of winter but named “Girl of Spring”. A storm brings down the roof of a ramshackle restaurant to reveal a hidden fortune. These are just some of the events that set Myeong-Kwan's beautifully crafted, wild world in motion.

Set in a remote village in South Korea, Whale follows the lives of its linked characters: Geumbok, who has been chasing an indescribable thrill ever since she first saw a whale crest in the ocean; her mute daughter, Chunhui, who communicates with elephants; and a one-eyed woman who controls honeybees with a whistle.

Brimming with surprises and wicked humour, Whale is an adventure-satire of epic proportions, by one of international literature’s the most original voices.

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"A lesson in magical realism, weaving together riotous tales of secret treasure, a giant baby and people who speak to elephants... Fast paced and cinematic."

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"A rich, fantastical tale..... unique and ambitious."

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“Funny and light while also deeply philosophical and sensual.”

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"In tying together a series of fun, related anecdotes, Cheon cleverly spins a fantastical tale that also contains some unpalatable truths about not-so-distant Korean history – and that’s without even mentioning the man with the scar, the brickyard and the titular whale of a building."

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"A kaleidoscope of interlocking stories, all painted larger than life." 

"A novel that seduces." - JoongAng Ilbo

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"[Whale] redefines what fiction can be."

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"Whale overflows with freshness. That's what makes it special."

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“Fast-paced and imaginative.”

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"There has never been a novel like this in Korean literature...A novel that's more like reading out loud than reading quietly to oneself; its structure is like that of a folktale. You can feel the oral tradition in the rhythm of the sentences."

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“Whale is a book that hooks you by the nose. It floods your senses with a certain voluptuous intensity alternating with the pungent odour of dried fish and human desire in all its manifold variations.”