{{family name hatnote|Hwang||lang=Korean}}{{Lowercase title|italic=yes}}{{Short description|Novel by Hwang Jung-eun}} {{Infobox book | author = Hwang Jung-eun | isbn = 9788936437541 | pub_date = {{plainlist| * January 11, 2019 (Korean) * September 18, 2020 (Japanese) * April 15, 2025 (English) }} | name = dd's Umbrella | publisher = {{plainlist| * Changbi Publishers (Korean) * Aki Shobo (Japanese) * Tilted Axis Press (English) }} | country = South Korea | pages = {{plainlist| * 340 (Korean) * 288 (Japanese) * 256 (English) }} | image = "dd's Umbrella" by Hwang Jungeun book cover.jpeg | italic title = no }} '''''dd's Umbrella''''' ({{Korean|hangul=디디의 우산|rr=Didi ui usan}}) is a 2019 novel by Hwang Jung-eun published by Changbi Publishers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=황 |first=정은 |title=디디의 우산 |date=2019-01-11 |publisher=창비 |isbn=9788936437541 |language=ko}}</ref> In 2020, a Japanese translation by Saito Mariko was published by Aki Shobo.<ref>{{Cite book |last=ファン |first=ジョンウン |title=ディディの傘 |date=2020-09-18 |publisher=亜紀書房 |isbn=978-4750516684 |language=ja}}</ref> In 2025, an English translation by e. yaewon was published by Tilted Axis Press.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hwang |first=Jeong eun |title=DD's umbrella |date=2023 |publisher=Tilted Axis Press |isbn=978-1-911284-94-9 |location=London |translator-last=E. YaeWon}}</ref>
== Synopsis == The book consists of two novellas. The first follows d, a non-binary airport worker in Seoul mourning the loss of their lover, dd, who died in a car accident. The second involves a writer, named Kim Soyoung, as she reflects on her life and the difficulties faced by her and her significant other, Seo Sookyung, as lesbians in South Korea. Both novellas take place amid national grief of the Sewol ferry disaster, as well as Park Geun-hye's corruption scandal.
== Critical reception == ''Publishers Weekly'' said that Hwang "shines an illuminating light on the repression that persists amid social progress" and called her novel "a tender and revealing portrait of characters on the margins."<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=dd's Umbrella by Jungeun Hwang |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781911284949 |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=www.publishersweekly.com}}</ref>
''Asian Review of Books'' lauded Hwang's writing of grief, discrimination, and memory.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yonezawa |first=Moe |date=2024-04-09 |title="dd's Umbrella" by Hwang Jungeun |url=https://asianreviewofbooks.com/dds-umbrella-by-hwang-jungeun/ |access-date=2025-05-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> ''The New Yorker'', in a briefly noted book review, called the novel "a tender, spooky portrait of outcast friends and lovers" with "tragedies both local and universal."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last= |first= |date=2025-04-21 |title=Briefly Noted Book Reviews |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/04/28/crumb-when-the-city-stopped-my-documents-and-dds-umbrella |access-date=2025-05-05 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> Similarly, ''Singapore Unbound'' noted that it was "neither plot nor character-driven" but rather "atmosphoric and meandering" with "quiet and minimalistic prose."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-25 |title=The View of Mukja: The Invisible Voices of Hwang Jungeun's dd's Umbrella |url=https://singaporeunbound.org/suspect-journal/2025/4/18/the-view-of-mukja |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=Singapore Unbound |language=en-US}}</ref> ''The Korea Times'' observed the novel's relevant perspective on the "unfinished business" of revolution in South Korea, stating that it "leaves us with the task to turn our attention to the unchanged part of history—the continued exclusion of the socially marginalized. For them, the revolution, both big and small, is far from being over."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-04-02 |title=Book review: Revolution is unfinished business for many - The Korea Times |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/lifestyle/books/20210402/book-review-revolution-is-unfinished-business-for-many |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=www.koreatimes.co.kr |language=en}}</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
Category:2019 novels Category:20th-century South Korean novels Category:2019 LGBTQ-related literary works Category:2010s LGBTQ novels Category:Books about non-binary people Category:Lesbian culture in Asia Category:Novels about lesbian topics Category:Novels about transgender topics Category:Novels set in Seoul