Twilight Cleaner
 |
Description
Book Introduction
There Is No Perfect Apology: A New Work by Kim Hye-jin
Children who are more special because they are not ordinary
A fantasy coming-of-age novel that illuminates each other's worlds.
"Here lies a beautiful world where we can save each other." _Lee Ha-na (Children's and Youth Literature Critic)
“I met the friend I wanted, and I found the adult I wanted to be.” _Jeong So-yeon (novelist)
Author Kim Hye-jin, who has captivated readers and critics with her delicate psychological portrayals of characters, dense prose, outstanding imagination, and vivid themes, has returned with her new full-length novel, "The Twilight Cleaner."
In this book, the author presents the story of children dealing with 'twilight', which exists everywhere in the world but is usually invisible to the human eye.
The protagonist Soyo's family has been doing the work of clearing the twilight for generations.
Twilight is like mold or dust, and if left unattended it hardens and becomes a danger to ordinary people who cannot see it.
Those with the special ability to see the twilight become cleaners who collect the twilight that has become tangled and hardened in every corner of the world.
However, when dusk falls, Soyo becomes itchy and sensitive, making it difficult to carry out simple daily tasks and even make friends.
The only friend who understands such a need is Jeha, who can read a person's 'stains' to understand their past and personality.
Then one day, Soyo's world is shaken to its core when Yena, who makes stickers with fake memories, transfers to her school.
This work is a story about children who go beyond the world's standards of "normal" and grow together by getting to know each other and connecting with each other thanks to their individual abilities.
The story of children navigating a world filled with darkness, discovering their own identities, learning about friendship and love, and growing will deeply resonate with and provide courage to teenage readers going through an uncertain time.
Children who are more special because they are not ordinary
A fantasy coming-of-age novel that illuminates each other's worlds.
"Here lies a beautiful world where we can save each other." _Lee Ha-na (Children's and Youth Literature Critic)
“I met the friend I wanted, and I found the adult I wanted to be.” _Jeong So-yeon (novelist)
Author Kim Hye-jin, who has captivated readers and critics with her delicate psychological portrayals of characters, dense prose, outstanding imagination, and vivid themes, has returned with her new full-length novel, "The Twilight Cleaner."
In this book, the author presents the story of children dealing with 'twilight', which exists everywhere in the world but is usually invisible to the human eye.
The protagonist Soyo's family has been doing the work of clearing the twilight for generations.
Twilight is like mold or dust, and if left unattended it hardens and becomes a danger to ordinary people who cannot see it.
Those with the special ability to see the twilight become cleaners who collect the twilight that has become tangled and hardened in every corner of the world.
However, when dusk falls, Soyo becomes itchy and sensitive, making it difficult to carry out simple daily tasks and even make friends.
The only friend who understands such a need is Jeha, who can read a person's 'stains' to understand their past and personality.
Then one day, Soyo's world is shaken to its core when Yena, who makes stickers with fake memories, transfers to her school.
This work is a story about children who go beyond the world's standards of "normal" and grow together by getting to know each other and connecting with each other thanks to their individual abilities.
The story of children navigating a world filled with darkness, discovering their own identities, learning about friendship and love, and growing will deeply resonate with and provide courage to teenage readers going through an uncertain time.
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
1.
We clear the twilight
2.
It's all because of the dusk
3.
How to be a friend
4.
unplanned trip
5.
planned intrusion
6.
Matchi and Eoreumbachi
7.
midnight dusk collection
8.
Part of the secret
9.
Dusk, stickers, and gaps
10.
In search of the lost twilight
11.
Something only I can do
12.
What I didn't know, I will know
Author's Note
Recommendation
We clear the twilight
2.
It's all because of the dusk
3.
How to be a friend
4.
unplanned trip
5.
planned intrusion
6.
Matchi and Eoreumbachi
7.
midnight dusk collection
8.
Part of the secret
9.
Dusk, stickers, and gaps
10.
In search of the lost twilight
11.
Something only I can do
12.
What I didn't know, I will know
Author's Note
Recommendation
Detailed image
Into the book
We are the ones who erase the stains of people and the ones who clear the darkness of places.
I don't know how many times I argued with Jeha when we were young about what was more difficult and challenging.
We don't talk about that anymore.
Because we know that fighting among ourselves is meaningless.
Because it's the same thing to do something that an 'ordinary' person wouldn't understand.
--- p.12
I didn't know that the twilight cleaners had employers.
In our house, my grandmother's grandfather's grandmother's grandfather, and maybe even the generations before that, we've been clearing out the twilight, so it was something that had to be done.
“What, you guys are from a family that works for the country?”
Jeha was whining, but it didn't feel very good.
Looking at Mom and Dad's increasing sighs and darkened faces, it was like that.
--- p.21
As the wind blew, the shadows of the trees and the moonlight swayed dizzily, and the figures of the two people were clearly revealed.
Is this a thief? Should I call 112? Should I bring Jeha out? I can't decide. They're headed not for the house, but for the landfill.
It's just dusk over there... ... .
While I was confused, something worse happened.
Those people unlocked the outer door and pushed it open.
The real door of the landfill was revealed in the moonlight.
"what are you doing!"
Without realizing it, I gathered all my strength and screamed.
--- p.100
“Can’t you see it with your own eyes? The twilight that has been thoroughly aged and aged in a landfill is different.
To achieve even a similar effect, it must be taken directly from the person.
It stands to reason that what is separated from each individual would be purer than the darkness of the street mixed with the darkness of many people.
For a janitor, you really have limited knowledge.
“Are you just blindly following the rules without even knowing what you’re doing?”
--- p.142
Depending on the memories that Yena attaches, someone is falsely accused, someone commits violence, and someone is fired from their job.
Yena said that it was so painful to do something that made people believe a lie as real.
That wasn't the only thing that bothered Yena.
“Twilight grows from stickers attached to humans.
It seems to attract the surrounding darkness, and it also seems to literally grow like mushrooms or mold.”
--- pp.188~189
I also heard the story of when I was born.
He said that wherever I went, the darkness would cling to me as a newborn baby.
It was really scary when the darkness of the landfill shook.
Mom and Dad even thought about running away from the landfill, but their sense of duty as janitors prevented them from doing so.
I just washed myself in Jehane's car every day and searched everywhere for a room until I met Hyeongseol.
--- p.236
To be honest, I wanted to try anything.
I like the word possibility.
But I swallowed it inside because I didn't want to provoke Mom and Dad any further.
I don't know how many times I argued with Jeha when we were young about what was more difficult and challenging.
We don't talk about that anymore.
Because we know that fighting among ourselves is meaningless.
Because it's the same thing to do something that an 'ordinary' person wouldn't understand.
--- p.12
I didn't know that the twilight cleaners had employers.
In our house, my grandmother's grandfather's grandmother's grandfather, and maybe even the generations before that, we've been clearing out the twilight, so it was something that had to be done.
“What, you guys are from a family that works for the country?”
Jeha was whining, but it didn't feel very good.
Looking at Mom and Dad's increasing sighs and darkened faces, it was like that.
--- p.21
As the wind blew, the shadows of the trees and the moonlight swayed dizzily, and the figures of the two people were clearly revealed.
Is this a thief? Should I call 112? Should I bring Jeha out? I can't decide. They're headed not for the house, but for the landfill.
It's just dusk over there... ... .
While I was confused, something worse happened.
Those people unlocked the outer door and pushed it open.
The real door of the landfill was revealed in the moonlight.
"what are you doing!"
Without realizing it, I gathered all my strength and screamed.
--- p.100
“Can’t you see it with your own eyes? The twilight that has been thoroughly aged and aged in a landfill is different.
To achieve even a similar effect, it must be taken directly from the person.
It stands to reason that what is separated from each individual would be purer than the darkness of the street mixed with the darkness of many people.
For a janitor, you really have limited knowledge.
“Are you just blindly following the rules without even knowing what you’re doing?”
--- p.142
Depending on the memories that Yena attaches, someone is falsely accused, someone commits violence, and someone is fired from their job.
Yena said that it was so painful to do something that made people believe a lie as real.
That wasn't the only thing that bothered Yena.
“Twilight grows from stickers attached to humans.
It seems to attract the surrounding darkness, and it also seems to literally grow like mushrooms or mold.”
--- pp.188~189
I also heard the story of when I was born.
He said that wherever I went, the darkness would cling to me as a newborn baby.
It was really scary when the darkness of the landfill shook.
Mom and Dad even thought about running away from the landfill, but their sense of duty as janitors prevented them from doing so.
I just washed myself in Jehane's car every day and searched everywhere for a room until I met Hyeongseol.
--- p.236
To be honest, I wanted to try anything.
I like the word possibility.
But I swallowed it inside because I didn't want to provoke Mom and Dad any further.
--- p.252
Publisher's Review
“Other kids probably don’t know how special Yena is.
“Only I know, only I who see the dusk.”
Thanks to the extraordinary ability to see invisible beings,
Three people who discovered each other
The most brilliant story written with friendship and courage
The protagonist, Soyo, was born into a family that has been clearing away twilight for generations, and lives by clearing away the 'twilight' that others cannot see.
Dusk, which literally means 'a slightly dark state', becomes a substance in the work that feels cool to the touch, is bumpy like a scab, and gives off an unpleasant aura like mold or dust.
As Soyo stands on the threshold of puberty, the reality of seeing the shadows sticking to her everywhere regardless of her will becomes overwhelming, and the cracks in her relationships with her family and friends deepen.
“I might as well just buy it.
The story takes a turning point when Yena, who is as “strange” as Soyo, appears in front of Soyo, who was denying herself by saying, “I can’t escape this situation no matter what I do.”
As critic Lee Ha-na said, “Kim Hye-jin’s novels constantly remember and call out to those who are easily marginalized and forgotten in the world,” “The Twilight Cleaner” focuses on the other side of a seemingly ordinary world, shines light on the corners that no one looks into, and unfolds its own solid worldview before the reader.
The story, which highlights the moment when 'difference' becomes a strength rather than a weakness, shines even more brightly when it encounters an incident where the janitors' hard-earned twilight is stolen.
On their journey to reclaim the dusk, the children discover that the discomfort of seeing the unseen can sometimes be the power to save someone.
And there is always ‘Director Park’ who has been silently by his side.
Although he is an ordinary civil servant who cannot see the twilight, he seriously observes those who do invisible work, listens attentively, and shows respect.
He exists as a bridge between the visible and invisible worlds, and he extends a helping hand to children in times of need.
The scene where they become small lights in the darkness and illuminate each other's worlds warmly completes the message the work is trying to convey.
“We may never know what each other sees.
But even if we don't know or understand, we can reach out to each other." - Author's Note
A fascinating work that deepens the more you read it.
An experience that transforms familiar spaces into a stage for a mystical adventure.
《The Twilight Cleaner》 unfolds in familiar spaces such as the Craft Museum next to Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, Insa-dong, Bulkwangcheon Stream, and the Han River.
However, through the eyes of author Kim Hye-jin, everyday spaces soon become mysterious and unfamiliar fantasy stages.
Soyo, who suddenly goes on a trip to Daejeon with her parents, returns to Seoul alone to keep her promise to Yena.
That night, someone steals the twilight that the cleaners have collected at the landfill and takes it to 'Yena'.
Soyo and Jeha sneak into the Craft Museum to retrieve the stolen Eoreum and Yena, where they face a shocking truth.
The twilight that everyone thought was useless and should be thrown away was actually being used as a precious material to keep the collections stored in the storage from decaying or changing.
However, the children run forward even more breathlessly to save Eoreum and Yena, knowing that those who handle Eoreum are using it negatively.
The chase, which unfolds in the museum's storage and collection washing room, continues to Bulkwangcheon and the Han River, adding speed and depth to the story.
As urgent events unfold, Soyo learns the secret of the darkness that has been entangled with her since birth, and begins to grow by gradually accepting the existence that once frightened and repulsed her.
Through friendships built with small and faint beings
Finally, the journey towards becoming 'the best of us'
"The Twilight Cleaner," which began with the thought that "while we take clean roads, empty trash cans, and dry sinks for granted, we often forget the people who do these things," reveals the invisible world and makes us look again at the places and senses of beings we easily forget.
This work, which expands the 'invisible natural toil' with fantastic imagination and uses the unique device of 'twilight', is also a visualization of anxiety, loneliness, and the shadows of the heart that everyone has but cannot be seen on the outside, in the form of twilight.
Readers will be able to experience a new understanding of their own emotions through this unfamiliar being.
Soyo carries the burden of clearing away the darkness as if it were her destiny.
What initially felt like an unpleasant and burdensome task, through adventures with friends, he realizes that it can be a force that protects someone.
Eventually, you accept the abilities you had been ignoring, discover a side of yourself you never knew existed, and become a 'really good person.'
The image of Soyo growing up while enduring a world that others cannot see naturally overlaps with the position of those who silently support the world right next to us.
《The Twilight Cleaner》 is a fantasy coming-of-age novel that possesses both literary perfection and popularity.
Teenage readers who struggle to deal with emotional upheaval will find new perspectives on diverse emotions through the unfamiliar yet familiar "Twilight," and gain the courage to affirm and love themselves.
“I hope that when you close the book and look up, the world you see again will be a little more colorful and vivid,” the author hopes that readers who have completed the journey will look at the world around them in a challenging and new way.
“It is dark in the twilight, but there is still a hint of light.
“It is now up to us whether we will leave this fragile light behind and head into the deep night, or advance brightly into the dawn.” _Lee Ha-na (Children’s and Youth Literature Critic)
“Only I know, only I who see the dusk.”
Thanks to the extraordinary ability to see invisible beings,
Three people who discovered each other
The most brilliant story written with friendship and courage
The protagonist, Soyo, was born into a family that has been clearing away twilight for generations, and lives by clearing away the 'twilight' that others cannot see.
Dusk, which literally means 'a slightly dark state', becomes a substance in the work that feels cool to the touch, is bumpy like a scab, and gives off an unpleasant aura like mold or dust.
As Soyo stands on the threshold of puberty, the reality of seeing the shadows sticking to her everywhere regardless of her will becomes overwhelming, and the cracks in her relationships with her family and friends deepen.
“I might as well just buy it.
The story takes a turning point when Yena, who is as “strange” as Soyo, appears in front of Soyo, who was denying herself by saying, “I can’t escape this situation no matter what I do.”
As critic Lee Ha-na said, “Kim Hye-jin’s novels constantly remember and call out to those who are easily marginalized and forgotten in the world,” “The Twilight Cleaner” focuses on the other side of a seemingly ordinary world, shines light on the corners that no one looks into, and unfolds its own solid worldview before the reader.
The story, which highlights the moment when 'difference' becomes a strength rather than a weakness, shines even more brightly when it encounters an incident where the janitors' hard-earned twilight is stolen.
On their journey to reclaim the dusk, the children discover that the discomfort of seeing the unseen can sometimes be the power to save someone.
And there is always ‘Director Park’ who has been silently by his side.
Although he is an ordinary civil servant who cannot see the twilight, he seriously observes those who do invisible work, listens attentively, and shows respect.
He exists as a bridge between the visible and invisible worlds, and he extends a helping hand to children in times of need.
The scene where they become small lights in the darkness and illuminate each other's worlds warmly completes the message the work is trying to convey.
“We may never know what each other sees.
But even if we don't know or understand, we can reach out to each other." - Author's Note
A fascinating work that deepens the more you read it.
An experience that transforms familiar spaces into a stage for a mystical adventure.
《The Twilight Cleaner》 unfolds in familiar spaces such as the Craft Museum next to Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, Insa-dong, Bulkwangcheon Stream, and the Han River.
However, through the eyes of author Kim Hye-jin, everyday spaces soon become mysterious and unfamiliar fantasy stages.
Soyo, who suddenly goes on a trip to Daejeon with her parents, returns to Seoul alone to keep her promise to Yena.
That night, someone steals the twilight that the cleaners have collected at the landfill and takes it to 'Yena'.
Soyo and Jeha sneak into the Craft Museum to retrieve the stolen Eoreum and Yena, where they face a shocking truth.
The twilight that everyone thought was useless and should be thrown away was actually being used as a precious material to keep the collections stored in the storage from decaying or changing.
However, the children run forward even more breathlessly to save Eoreum and Yena, knowing that those who handle Eoreum are using it negatively.
The chase, which unfolds in the museum's storage and collection washing room, continues to Bulkwangcheon and the Han River, adding speed and depth to the story.
As urgent events unfold, Soyo learns the secret of the darkness that has been entangled with her since birth, and begins to grow by gradually accepting the existence that once frightened and repulsed her.
Through friendships built with small and faint beings
Finally, the journey towards becoming 'the best of us'
"The Twilight Cleaner," which began with the thought that "while we take clean roads, empty trash cans, and dry sinks for granted, we often forget the people who do these things," reveals the invisible world and makes us look again at the places and senses of beings we easily forget.
This work, which expands the 'invisible natural toil' with fantastic imagination and uses the unique device of 'twilight', is also a visualization of anxiety, loneliness, and the shadows of the heart that everyone has but cannot be seen on the outside, in the form of twilight.
Readers will be able to experience a new understanding of their own emotions through this unfamiliar being.
Soyo carries the burden of clearing away the darkness as if it were her destiny.
What initially felt like an unpleasant and burdensome task, through adventures with friends, he realizes that it can be a force that protects someone.
Eventually, you accept the abilities you had been ignoring, discover a side of yourself you never knew existed, and become a 'really good person.'
The image of Soyo growing up while enduring a world that others cannot see naturally overlaps with the position of those who silently support the world right next to us.
《The Twilight Cleaner》 is a fantasy coming-of-age novel that possesses both literary perfection and popularity.
Teenage readers who struggle to deal with emotional upheaval will find new perspectives on diverse emotions through the unfamiliar yet familiar "Twilight," and gain the courage to affirm and love themselves.
“I hope that when you close the book and look up, the world you see again will be a little more colorful and vivid,” the author hopes that readers who have completed the journey will look at the world around them in a challenging and new way.
“It is dark in the twilight, but there is still a hint of light.
“It is now up to us whether we will leave this fragile light behind and head into the deep night, or advance brightly into the dawn.” _Lee Ha-na (Children’s and Youth Literature Critic)
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: September 26, 2025
- Page count, weight, size: 263 pages | 336g | 140*205*20mm
- ISBN13: 9791168343245
- ISBN10: 1168343240
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