The bestseller and winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize, about a woman who disappears on a train platform, and her family's search to find her
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 Mother?
Told through the piercing voices and urgent perspectives of a daughter, son, husband, and mother, PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOTHER is at once an authentic picture of contemporary life in Korea and a universal story of family love.
'Kyung-Sook Shin's tale... has hit a nerve' Guardian
'A raw tribute to the mysteries of motherhood' New York Times Book Review
'The most moving and accomplished, and often startling, novel' Wall Street Journal
An authentic, moving story that brings to vivid life the deep family connections that lie at the core of Korean culture ... This is a tapestry of family life that will be read all over the world. I loved this book - Gary Shteyngart, author of ABSURDISTAN
Kyung-sook Shin has managed some kind of alchemy in this novel... A terrific novel that stayed with me long after I'd finished its final, haunting pages - Abraham Verghese, author of CUTTING FOR STONE
A direct and affecting account of a modern Korean family's tragedy that also provides an intimate window into the history and custom of the country - Janice Yk Lee, author of THE PIANO TEACHER
Kyung-Sook Shin is one of South Korea's most widely read and acclaimed novelists. She has been honored with the Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, the Dong-in Literature Prize, and the Yi Sang Literary Prize, Mark of Respect Award (2012), and Ho-Am Prize for an Art (2013) as well as France's Prix de l'InaperA u and Man Asian Literary Prize (2011). She is the author of many prior works of fiction in addition to PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOTHER, which has been published in 41 countries, and was on the New York Times bestselling list. Shin was a visiting scholar at Columbia University from 2010 to 2011. She currently lives in Seoul.