Tailbone

"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.

Author: Che Yeun
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 04/07/2026
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.25h x 5.51w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9781639737406


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 02/01/2026
Shelf Awareness 01/01/0001
Publishers Weekly 02/23/2026

About the Author
Che Yeun's short fiction can be found in Granta, AGNI, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Kenyon Review Online, and elsewhere. Her work has received grants from Hedgebrook, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, and the David T.K. Wong Fellowship. After completing her PhD in History of Science at Harvard University, she is currently a professor of History of Science & Technology at Texas A&M University. She was born in Seoul, Korea.