1.
Strange interview
2.
A day when the baguette is well baked
3.
The Power of Prayer
4.
Campagne, a bread to share with friends
5.
blue stain
6.
Madeleines, a taste that evokes memories
7.
Flour dough therapy
8.
fermentation
9.
A Girl's Prayer
10.
Doll from Rosca bread
11.
Accidental Bakery
12.
Like Pluto
13.
House of Campagne
14.
Father's notebook and red bean buns
15.
Sorry I'm late
16.
How to eat a croissant
17.
Autolies
18.
invitation

Author's Note

It was quite by accident that I discovered that bakery.


My daughter, my brother, my friend, my lover, my neighbor
Those who have lost loved ones in an instant have gathered here as if drawn to it.

The first full-length novel for young adults by Kim Hye-yeon, winner of the Andersen Shadow Award and the Golden Toad Award.
The story of Bread, a bakery that shares the pain of loss.

This is just a story about sad people.
A story about the daily lives of people who have lost a loved one overnight.
I wanted to feed them freshly baked, fragrant bread.
I thought that if they were all together, the sadness might be eased a little, and maybe we could find some strength.

-From the author's note

『Accidental Bakery』, which contains stories of people who lost their family and friends in an accident, was published by Biryongso.
This is the first full-length novel for young adults by author Kim Hye-yeon, who writes stories about staying by one's side like a warm and caring neighbor with a simple and warm gaze.


The unforgettable tragedy of April 16, 2014.
After that, the heavy and earnest emotions that had been building up in my heart as a writer came out as a story.
Although the characters and events are recreated, readers will naturally recall the events of that day.
The daily lives of those who lost their loved ones overnight, and those who are drawn to open the door of a bakery located in an alley.
The writer thought that if they were all together, wouldn't the sadness be a little less?

The novel unfolds around a bakery without a proper sign, located in a quiet residential back alley.
The store owner, Lee Ki-ho, once dreamed of becoming a novelist, but he inherited his late father's bakery and became a baker.
And there were people who came and went from that bakery.
Yoonji, a high school sophomore with many dreams, and Younghoon, a teacher at her school and a long-time friend of Lee Kiho.
The two went on a school trip and never returned from the southern sea.
"The Accidental Bakery" is a story about people who have to live with the loss of someone they love.
Five characters, including Yoonji's boyfriend Tae-hwan, Yoonji's best friend Jin-ah, Yoonji's mother, bakery owner Lee Ki-ho, and part-time worker Yoonji, take center stage in each chapter, recalling the past and describing their present daily lives.
The process of people who were connected by an invisible chain of fate gradually discovering each other and gathering at a bakery by chance is captured in a painful yet calm and warm sentence.


We who hold in our hearts those who are forever 'suspended' in our memories

-Yoonji's boyfriend Taehwan
Whenever she talked about her dreams, Yunji's face lit up.
But Yunji's dream has now been 'suspended' forever.
Just like in the lyrics of the song that Yoonji likes.
Did Yoonji hear that song on her last trip? - From the text

-Jin-ah, Yoon-ji's friend
I was scared.
When I first heard the news of the accident, I couldn't believe it, and when I had to accept the truth, fear came before sadness.
If someone asks me why, I won't make excuses like, "It was the first death I've ever experienced, and I was scared."
I just couldn't go.
As for Yunji, it wasn't sadness but strange things that tormented Jinah.
Like today, the smell of curry, or Taehwan.
-In the text

-Yoonji's mother
Well, no, not really.
It's a phrase my daughter often uses.
I used to get annoyed whenever Yoonji said that.
He nagged me, saying that I wasn't serious about anything and that I was just talking nonsense.
But it was fun to try.
No, not that.
No, not that.
I kept saying it in my mouth.
Then I thought I heard Yunji's voice.
"Mom, do you miss me a lot? Well, if not, then don't worry." - From the text

The first person to open the bakery after 'that day' was Ha-kyung.
A place where my aimless feet arrived in an unfamiliar neighborhood after getting off the subway.
Ha-kyung sees a part-time job posting on the glass door of a bakery and decides to work there.
Lee Ki-ho, the owner of the bakery who doesn't fit in with management, and Ha-kyung, a quiet part-timer, end up working together at the bakery.
Then Tae-hwan, Jin-ah, and Yun-ji's mother open the bakery door one by one and come in.
They are friends and family of 'Yoonji', who Lee Ki-ho taught bread making at the youth center.
Is it really a coincidence that they found this store?
A year after the accident, "The Accidental Bakery" follows the daily lives of those who have lost loved ones, forever suspended in the memories of the past, with no present or future.
Only the bread that she liked the most, the bread we once ate together, the bread we once made together still gives off a warm aroma.
The breads, firm, soft, and simple, become a medium of comfort in the story that is difficult to convey in words, warmly embracing the wounded characters.


Baking, sharing the pain of touching the soft, white dough

Campagne is a bread that means 'companion'.
A companion who shares bread with others.
Now he has no companion to break bread with.
Because Younghoon was his only friend.
A little while ago, the boy also lost a friend with whom he had shared bread.
-In the text

It was said that each person has his or her own universe, and that when a person disappears, the unique universe disappears.
Yoonji and Younghoon were a precious and unique universe to their friends, lovers, and family.
It is difficult to fathom the depth of another person's loss or pain, and perhaps impossible to fathom it, but perhaps because they have experienced the same thing, they can recognize each other's pain without needing to say anything.


Ha-kyung, a part-time worker who came to visit a bakery in a foreign country, lost her older brother who had enlisted in the military.
My older brother, who had a unique dream of becoming a photographer and was passionate about life.
When her older brother, who had been like that, takes his own life in the military, Ha-kyung's family falls apart in an instant.
Ha-kyung, who was watching her father's guilt for pushing her older brother into the military and the disintegration of her family, also lost her sense of purpose in life and ended up here, following wherever her feet took her.
And, is it really a coincidence? At the bakery, Ha-kyung encounters the connections her brother had made while he was alive.


Perhaps we are inextricably linked by invisible threads? Perhaps we can share in the pain of others, weep, and empathize with them. Perhaps we can share in the comfort of kneading dough, talking together, and baking warm bread.
This accidental 'bakery' is a place where we can remember the lost people together.
So that I can put my broken heart back together again, so that I can gain a little more strength.