Concerning My Daughter

When a mother invites her daughter, who is in her thirties, to live in her apartment, she hopes for the things many parents desire for their children: a reliable job and, ideally, a loving husband with a stable career to build a family with. However, when her daughter Green arrives with her partner Lane, the mother finds herself unprepared and unwilling to accept Lane as part of her household. The tension is palpable, as the mother struggles to muster even basic civility toward Lane. Having devoted her existence to her husband and child, she finds it difficult to embrace her daughter's alternative definition of family. Green's involvement in a case of wrongful termination of gay colleagues at the university she works at only adds to her mother's confusion.Despite this, the mother's perspective is challenged when the care facility where she works pressures her to compromise on the quality of care for an elderly dementia patient with no family ties. This patient, a successful diplomat who chose a life without children, prompts the mother to question why a non-traditional life should be deemed less valuable. In "Concerning My Daughter," translated from Korean by Jamie Chang, author Kim Hye-jin explores deep-seated fears surrounding ageing, mortality, and solitude, ultimately crafting a tribute to the myriad forms of love.