Our Happy Time by Gong Ji-Young, 2014 Marble Arch PressPrivileged pop singer Yu-Jung Mao faces a round of therapy after her third suicide attempt. She is an angry woman and unwilling to undergo the battery of questions from doctors and nurses she sees as nothing but hypocrites. When her aunt, a nun with the Catholic Church, offers her an out Yu-Jung takes it.
With Aunt Monica, Yu-Jung visits Seol's detention center and meets Yun-Soo. Yun-Soo is a death row inmate incarcerated for the rape and murder of a teenager, and the murders of her mother and their housekeeper. Yun-Soo is at first bitter and refuses to see Aunt Monica and the sweets she provides, but over time he begins to accept the kindness she brings.
Yu-Jung is surprised that a man she sees as morally bankrupt and little more than an animal can make her reconsider how she views and interacts with the world. But as they spend more time together, both Yu-Jung and Yun-Soo come to understand no one is wholly good, nor wholly evil.
When the expected comes unexpectedly Yu-Jung is transformed, but her choices will ultimately define her, just as Yun-Soo's have defined him.
Meant for a mature audience, Our Happy Time addresses topics from murder and corporal punishment to what it means to be human. Young Adult readers can enjoy the unrepentant sarcasm of Yu-Jung as she challenges what she believes about herself and society surrounding her.
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