Therapist Haesoo Lim used to appear on television to provide her professional opinion on matters in the news. But after speaking about a famous male actor, her career took a nosedive when the actor committed suicide. Haesoo not only lost her job, but her marriage also fell apart. Kim Hye-jin’s new novel Counsel Culture, translated by Jamie Chang, may be a small, contemplative book, but it packs a big punch with vibrant characters, both human and feline.
The story opens with Haesoo in the middle of writing one of many unsent letters to people who were once in her life, such people as her former employer as well as relatives of the deceased actor. Haesoo lives alone in a neighborhood that has a colony of feral cats. She starts to pay attention to the cats and grows concerned about a mangy tabby who has seen one too many confrontations with other animals. It’s the first time Haesoo seems to notice animals.
For many years, she thought herself to be a competent therapist. As a therapist, she only dealt with people. With the emotions people feel, with feelings that overwhelm them. Because Haesoo believed that she had complete control over her own emotions, she was able to offer decisive advice to those who were controlled by their feelings and moods. There was no place for animals or plants in her life—just people. A life bursting only with human things.

As she notices this distressed tabby, she also meets a young girl named Sei. The two talk about the cat and when Haesoo asks Sei for her name, the ten year-old says that it’s Turnip and that she named him herself. It takes a moment for Haesoo to realize that Sei is talking about the cat, not about herself. The friendship between Haesoo and Sei grows and is one of the most charming parts of the book, along with their care and attention of Turnip the cat.
To provide Turnip with proper medical care, the two must capture him in a trap so they can bring him to a vet. They try to win him over by feeding him Churu, a tube of fish and meat. Early on in the story, when Haesoo tries to give Turnip a Churu, another friend appears.
Haesoo opens the packet and squeezes the contents onto the ground. Turnip looks comical with his rump pulled all the way back and his front legs extended forward. Another round head suddenly emerges behind Turnip. Another cat with black fur—a kami. Haesoo takes out another Churu. Kami comes forward without any hesitation and gobbles up the Churu.
The two cats stick together and Haesoo and Sei realize they will both need to be captured if Turnip is to be successfully treated by a vet. Haesoo and Sei also recruit another neighbor, a woman who goes by Maru Mom—Maru is the name of her cat—to help them capture Turnip and Kami. When Maru Mom asks Haesoo if she’s willing to take responsibility for the cats beyond the vet visit, Haesoo wonders if Maru Mom recognizes her from her last television appearance, which had become a national debacle after the actor killed himself.
As Haesoo and Sei become friends, the older woman learns her young friend is being bullied on her school dodgeball team. Haesoo is cautious about becoming a mother figure to Sei, who lives with her father, but the two continue to work together around capturing the cats. About halfway into the story, they are successful and Turnip and Kami eventually get to a vet. Haesoo continues to write unsent letters and evaluate where she went wrong in her career and in her marriage. She’s hard on herself and cannot see beyond her mistake in criticizing the actor.
Somewhere in the distance the sound of cicadas comes in waves, advancing and receding. Everything feels surreal. Is she performing a role like an actor right now? If so, what is the role she’s playing? What is the character she is supposed to play? A villain who has done something unforgivable? A perpetrator who cannot be forgiven? Or maybe the victim of a harsh accusation? A loser defeated by hardship. A moron who lost herself in the throes of anguish.
Haesoo eventually finds the closure she needs to move on after her fateful television appearance. The cats find good homes and Sei learns to stand up for herself at school. The story is an encouraging one and the presence of the cats makes it an endearing one.
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