Tailbone

A Novel

Che Yeun (Author) , Jessica Lee (Narrator)

Tailbone

A Novel

Che Yeun (Author) , Jessica Lee (Narrator)

Hardback ~~$44.99~~ $40.49 Ebook (Epub & Mobi) $31.49 Audiobook $32.00

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Description

Bloomsbury presents Tailbone by Che Yeun, read by Jessica Lee

"An unforgettable debut novel, indelible, knowing, powerful, consuming. This marks the start of a major career." --Alexander Chee, author of How To Write an Autobiographical Novel

A fierce and gorgeous debut novel about a teenager who runs away from her abusive home to live in a boarding house for single women as a global financial crash threatens the people of Seoul.

Set in Seoul in 2008, Tailbone follows the story of an unnamed teenage girl who, after years of struggling with her alcoholic father's abuse, and what she sees as her mother's cowardice, decides to run away. At a boarding house for single women, the narrator is pulled into the orbit of one of the other girls living there: an older girl named Juju, whose beauty and hardscrabble determination greatly impress the narrator.

But when a global financial crisis reaches Korea, fears of a wider economic collapse bring the city to a standstill. Everything the girls have come to rely on for survival-mainly, the patronage of wealthy men-is put at risk. Everyone begins to struggle, especially Juju, who has long been dependent on one particular benefactor, a man who is all too aware of his power over her. As businesses close and winter sets in, the narrator is forced to reckon with not only her deepening fear for Juju's future, but also her own uncertain path. Will she stay on the run or go back home to her heartbroken mother? In a city where everything rots from greed and desperation, what can a helpless woman like Juju teach her about survival? Will their hope for each other ignite courage or destruction?

A poignant tale about survival, the impact of colonial and familial violence, class, privilege, and womanhood, Tailbone is a powerful and thrilling novel from a blazing new talent.

Product details

Published	07 Apr 2026
Format	Audiobook
Duration	7 hours and 54 minutes
ISBN	9781639737420
Imprint	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

Che Yeun

Che Yeun’s short fiction can be found in Granta, A…

Narrator

Jessica Lee

This is poised to be a breakout debut novel from a writer whose short fiction has garnered praise and attention...[A] story of friendship, identity, and soul-searching that stays with you long after the last page.

S. Zainab Williams, BookRiot
An unforgettable novel. When a coming-of-age story can surprise me, I know a writer has done their job. Yeun takes the darkest moments and finds hope in them.

Adam Vitcavage, Debutiful "Most Anticipated Debuts of 2026"
The powerful first novel from Yeun, set in South Korea, follows a teenage girl who flees her abusive home and moves to a boarding home, where she befriends another girl whose relationship with her benefactor is threatened by the 2008 financial crisis.

Michael Schaub, Orange County Register
Through the blunt yet incisive narrative of one teenage girl, Tailbone presents a frightening portrait of a nation whose rapid economic success has been achieved at the cost of rapid social disintegration. A society built on relentless competition means close bonds - between women, romantic partners, and even parents and children - are tested to the breaking point. Yeun's bleak and all-too-plausible novel warns us that at the bottom of South Korea's precipice yawns a very dark abyss.

Alice Stephens, Washington Independent Review of Books
With this story of how we betray and are betrayed, by others but especially by ourselves, Che Yeun has given us an unforgettable debut novel, indelible, knowing, powerful, consuming. This marks the start of a major career.

Alexander Chee, author of HOW TO WRITE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL
A gripping coming of age tale as savage as it is astounding, Tailbone seduces one first with voice, then swells and electrifies from within the storied walls of the Seoul boarding house in which anything is possible. Tailbone introduces Che Yeun as one of the absolute greats, an extraordinary stylist and singular storyteller of our time.

T Kira Madden, author of WHIDBEY and LONG LIVE THE TRIBE OF FATHERLESS GIRLS