Please Look After Mom
A Novel
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4.1 • 280 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE MAN ASIAN LITERARY PRIZE • When sixty-nine-year-old So-nyo is separated from her husband among the crowds of the Seoul subway station, her family begins a desperate search to find her. Yet as long-held secrets and private sorrows begin to reveal themselves, they are forced to wonder: how well did they actually know the woman they called Mom?
“A terrific novel that stayed with me long after I’d finished its final, haunting pages.” —Abraham Verghese, bestselling author of The Covenant of Water
“A raw tribute to the mysteries of motherhood.” —The New York Times Book Review
Told through the piercing voices and urgent perspectives of a daughter, son, husband, and mother, Please Look After Mom is at once an authentic picture of contemporary life in Korea and a universal story of family love.
“A suspenseful, haunting, achingly lovely novel about the hidden lives, wishes, struggles and dreams of those we think we know best.” —The Seattle Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Shin's affecting English-language debut centers on the life of a hardworking, uncomplaining woman who goes missing in a bustling Seoul subway station. After Park So-nyo's disappearance, her grown children and her husband are filled with guilt and remorse at having taken So-nyo for granted and reflect, in a round-robin of narration, on her life and role in their lives. Having, through Mom's unstinting dedication, achieved professional success, her children understand for the first time the hardships she endured. Her irresponsible and harshly critical husband, meanwhile, finally acknowledges the depth of his love and the seriousness of her sacrifices for him. Narrating in her own voice late in the book, the spirit of Mom watches her family and finally voices her lifelong loneliness and depression and recalls the one secret in her life. As memories accrue, the narrative becomes increasingly poignant and psychologically revealing of all the characters, and though it does sometimes go soggy with pathos, most readers should find resonance in this family story, a runaway bestseller in Korea poised for a similar run here.
Customer Reviews
Good
Tribute to a mother's life long sacrifice and the children who take it for granted, failing to see the person with hopes and dreams of their own until its too late. Story of my life. How I wish I'd had the fortitude and wisdom to have read it while my mother could still be properly thanked.
Please Look After Mom
A beautifully written, entrancing story that will make you see yourself
Wow
This book deserves a million stars!
God, it's amazing! Kyung-sook shin is a genius!
After reading this book I understood how strongly a mother loves her children and how much sacrifices she makes for them.
I couldn't stop the tears when I read the last 2 chapters! If there was an award for best book on earth, Kyung would win