Concerning My Daughter

In Kim Hye-jin's 'Concerning My Daughter,' an unnamed mother faces an unexpected challenge when her thirty-something daughter, Green, moves back home, not alone, but with her girlfriend, Lane. The mother, who desires a traditional life for her daughter—marriage to a man, a stable family—struggles deeply with Green's queer relationship, her intolerance palpable and disruptive to their shared living space. Concurrently, the mother, a dedicated caregiver in a nursing home, finds herself embroiled in a moral dilemma: her workplace demands a reduction in care for an elderly, childless dementia patient, a former diplomat whose non-traditional life is deemed less 'valuable.' This parallel struggle forces the mother to confront her own deeply ingrained prejudices and the arbitrary nature of societal judgment, both in her personal life with Green and her professional ethics. The novel intricately weaves themes of aging, societal expectations, family dynamics, and the complexities of love, challenging readers to re-evaluate their definitions of 'normal' and 'worth.'