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A Novel
by Miye Lee
A captivating story that will leave a lingering magical feeling in readers' minds, this is the first book in a bestselling duology for anyone exhausted from the reality of their daily life.
In a mysterious town hidden in our collective subconscious there's a department store that sells dreams. Day and night, visitors both human and animal shuffle in to purchase their latest adventure. Each floor specializes in a specific type of dream: childhood memories, food dreams, ice skating, dreams of stardom. Flying dreams are almost always sold out. Some seek dreams of loved ones who have died.
For Penny, an enthusiastic new hire, working at Dallergut is the opportunity of a lifetime. As she uncovers the workings of this whimsical world, she bonds with a cast of unforgettable characters, including Dallergut, the flamboyant and wise owner, Babynap Rockabye, a famous dream designer, Maxim, a nightmare producer, and the many customers who dream to heal, dream to grow, and dream to flourish.
"A charming foray into the land of sleep. This is an excellent choice for a gentle book club read." —Library Journal (starred review)
"The stakes are low and the plot minimal, but it's a joy to spend time in this whimsical world and the endlessly inventive ways that Lee deploys dreams and nightmares will keep readers invested. This will especially appeal to fans of Toshikazu Kawaguchi's Before the Coffee Gets Cold." —Publishers Weekly
"This delightful story transcends Penny's experiences to be about so much more. A comforting story of dreams, lives, and the ways people process all that reality offers them." —Kirkus Reviews
"Whimsical and sweet... All things are possible in Lee's captivating world." —Shelf Awareness
"A strong plot and intriguing storyline." —Top Class
"A magic book that captivates anyone who reads it. This book is exceptionally rare and precious, as it combines the allure of fantasy novel with popularity." —Readers News
"This book has the unique ability to evoke both tears and tranquility. A perfect read for moments of exhaustion and the yearning to escape reality, it possesses the power to mend weary hearts." —Insight
"A page-turning bearhug of a novel that brings the elusive technicolor world of dream beautifully to life. Like all good fantasy fiction, Miye Lee smuggles in the big issues, too: the divide between rich and poor, the unrequited yearnings of the soul, and the aching pain of loss and bereavement. There's a tenderness to the book, and the eponymous department store, in all its Wes-Anderson-like color and frippery, that envelopes the reader, making them long to stay there forever." —Alex Howard, author of The Ghost Cat
This information about The Dallergut Dream Department Store was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lee Mi-ye was born in Busan in 1990. After graduating from the Busan National University School of Materials Science and Engineering, she worked as a semiconductor engineer at Samsung Electronics. Her debut novel Dollagoot Dream Department Store—published through crowdfunding in 2020—has drawn enthusiastic responses and favorable reviews.
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