The Vegetarian by Han Kang

It’s quite a feat for a writer to win both the International Booker Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature, but the South Korean writer Han Kang managed it before hitting 55 years of age, together with a score of other awards. Her first book translated into English was The Vegetarian, the impeccable translation being by Deborah Smith, who was the joint recipient of the Booker.

The book’s slimness belies its power, much of which comes from what is omitted rather than said.