Concerning My Daughter is a story told from the point of view of a mother who can’t accept the fact that her daughter is lesbian. One day, when the daughter’s girlfriend moves in with them, she has to face the reality.
Kim Hye-jin’s book is not an easy read – first of all, it seems impossible to like the narrator and her vision. But on the other hand, there’s nothing surprising about her ideas and all these things she hears in her hand and communicates to others are well-known from our own country. We’ve got sexism, homophobia, guilt and fear – what will the neighbors think? Or the coworkers? When will my daughter “grow” out of it?
It seems fair to compare Concerning My Daughter to Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982. This book may not be a literary masterpiece – I’d say the prose is simple and the narration – at times repetitive. However, if you’re interested in LGBT-related topics and want to understand better the fear and sense of lost of the older generations, it will allow you to look at Korean society from a different perspective – the perspective of a mature conservative woman, who would like to have a “normal” daughter with a “normal” life but has nobody in her circle to talk about it.
The book is also available in English.
