Almond : A Novel
This is, at its heart, a story about two monsters. One of them is the narrator. Yunjae has a neurological condition called alexithymia, which leaves him largely unable to experience or process emotions. The almond-shaped clusters deep within his brain, the amygdalae, have made ordinary social connection feel out of reach, though a devoted mother and grandmother have given him something steady and warm to stand on. Then, on Christmas Eve, which also happens to be Yunjae's sixteenth birthday, a sudden and brutal act of violence tears that foundation away, leaving him utterly alone. He withdraws into silence. It feels like the only logical response. Everything shifts, though, when Gon appears at his school: a volatile, troubled boy who seems, on the surface, like the last person Yunjae would ever connect with. Yet a quiet and unexpected friendship takes root between them. Gradually, Yunjae begins letting other people in, including a girl from school, and something inside him starts to stir. When Gon's life is placed in serious danger, Yunjae faces a moment that pushes him well beyond anything he's built to protect himself, and towards a version of himself he's never quite imagined. It's a gentle but quietly gripping novel, written with real restraint and emotional intelligence.
- Author: Won-pyung Sohn
- Publisher: HarperOne
- Genre: Contemporary Fiction
- ISBN: 978-0063266919
- Pages: 272 pages