Please Look After Mom
Published by Knopf/ US and Canada, Weidenfeld & Nicolson / UK & Commonwealth rights,Oh!Edition/France , Muelenhoff/Holland, Grijalbo RHM/ Spanish rights, Porto Editore/Portugal, Shueisha/Japan, People’s Literature Publishing/China, Phan Nam Publishing/Vietnam, Edtiora Intrinseca/Brazil,, Piper/Pendo for Germany, Forlaget/Norway, Verve/Denmark, Neri Pozza/Italy, Miskal/Israel, Eurasian/Taiwan, Kwaity Orientu/ Poland, Arab Scientific/World Arabic rights,Centrepolygraph/Russia, PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama/Indonesia, Carobna Knjiga/Serbia, Konyvmolykepzo Kiado KFT/ Hungary, Iatrikes Ekdoseis, Petriklis Ch. Paschalidis/Greece, Into Kustannus/Finland
Winner of the 2nd Prix de l’Inaperçu in France this year, Best-selling novel by award winning Korean novelist. Shin Kyung-sook has been honored with numerous awards including 1996 Manhae Literature Prize, 1997 Dong-in Literature Prize and 2001 Isang Literary Prize.
Please Look After Mom chronicles a family’s shock and despair following the matriach’s disappearance. So-nyo,the mother of four children, suffered a stroke in years past and is often in a confused state. She arrives in Seoul with her husband to visit her children but is wrenched from her husband’s grasp in a crowded subway station. Her husband is in the car, but she is left behind. She is gone but the time her husband returns to retrieve her.
This event triggers the family’s meandering, emotional journey to find So-nyo, as they reflect on their relationship with the woman they have only thought of as a mother and wife. Desperately following every lead to find her, So-nyo’s children and husband lash out at one another but also become close-knit, supporting one another as each tumbles along a path of regret, grief and fear.
Alternately heart wrenching and uplifting, this intimate novel illuminates the complexities of love among family members. A heart rending account of a mother’s anchoring effect on her family’s life and an astute, intimate stuffy of regret, is sure to resonate with readers all over the world.
* Translation rights: Sold into 34 countries including USA & Canada(Knopf, April 2011), UK(Weidenfeld & Nicolson, March 2011), France, Dutch, Spain, Japan, Vietnam, Germany, China, Taiwan, Israel, Portugal, Brazil, Italy, Turkey, Poland, Norway, Arabic, Sweden(Norstedts), Denmark(Verve), Russia, Indonesia, Greece, Servia, Finland, Hungary, Thailand, Slovenia,
Reviews
“A suspenseful, haunting, achingly lovely novel about the hidden lives, wishes, struggles and dreams of those we think we know best.” —Seattle Times
“A moving portrayal of the surprising nature, sudden sacrifices, and secret reveries of motherhood.” —Elle
“Intimate and hauntingly spare. . . . A raw tribute to the mysteries of motherhood.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Lovely. . . . Please Look After Mom, especially its magical, transcendent ending, lifts the spirit as only the best writing can do.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Shin renders a tender and beautiful portrait of South Korea, but the novel recognizes a familial dilemma experienced throughout the world.” –Ms. Magazine blog
“The most moving and accomplished, and often startling, novel in translation I’ve read in many seasons. . . . Every sentence is saturated in detail. . . . It tells an almost unbearably affecting story of remorse and belated wisdom that reminds us how globalism—at the human level—can tear souls apart and leave them uncertain of where to turn.” —Pico Iyer, Wall Street Journal
“The novel perfectly combines universal themes of love and loss, family dynamics, gender equality, tradition, and charity with the rich Korean culture and values which make Please Look After Mom a great literary masterpiece.” —Seattle Post-Intelligencer
