Hyong-chol’s account, though not written in the second person, is just as reflective and emotionally jarring as his sister’s. The next part focuses on Hyong-chol, Mom’s elder son and also her favourite child. Chi-hon has chosen a career as a novelist while her mother has never had the opportunity to become literate. Shin has weaved together a quiet irony in Chi-hon’s relationship with her mother. Deep in her ruminations is the guilt she feels over her recurring terseness and dismissal of Mom’s concern, of Mom’s ignorance and illiteracy. Her pain is visceral as she treads through the time periods, conversations, and memories of her mother. The first part belongs to Chi-hon, the elder daughter and a well-known novelist, who reflects on the events since Mom’s disappearance. Immensely popular in Shin’s home country of South Korea, the novel has received both acclaim and criticism in the U.S.Ĭrafted into four parts, each one reflecting a different character’s perspective, Shin has written at least half of the novel in the second person narrative - a style that lends itself well to each character’s self-reflective and at times, self-effacing inner dialogue. Kyung-sook Shin’s novel, Please Look After Mom, is the first of her books to be translated into English. The children put on a desperate search - they distribute flyers, seek out clues, turn to the police and to passersby, but Mom is nowhere to be found.

Their parents were coming from the Korean countryside for a visit to their children in the city. Their mother has disappeared from a train station in Seoul. That Mom is the person you want to call whenever you despair about something…” When you call out “Mom” you want to believe that she’s healthy. Translated from the Korean by: Chi-Young Kim

Please look after mother book