The Second Chance Convenience Store

The Second Chance Convenience Store is a heartwarming Korean bestseller set around a small neighbourhood store near Seoul Station. After Dokgo, an unhoused man with no memory of his past, returns Mrs. Yeom’s lost wallet, the retired teacher and store owner offers him a meal—and eventually a job on the night shift. Dokgo’s quiet kindness gradually changes the lives of the store’s workers and regular customers while helping Mrs. Yeom defend the business from financial pressure. But as her son seeks to sell the shop and hires a detective to uncover Dokgo’s past, the novel explores memory, dignity, addiction, community, redemption, and the possibility of beginning again. The English edition is translated from Korean by Janet Hong.