Winner of the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize

"Please Look After Mother is a captivating story, written with an understanding of the shortcomings of traditional ways and modern life. It is nostalgic but unsentimental, brutally well observed and, in this flawlessly smooth translation by Chi-Young Kim, it offers a sobering account of a vanished past.... We must hope there will be more translations to follow."

—The Times Literary Supplement

"Shin's prose, intimate and hauntingly spare in this translation by Chi-Young Kim...powerfully conveys grief’s bewildering immediacy.... [A] raw tribute to the mysteries of motherhood."

—The New York Times Book Review

"'Please Look After Mom' is the most moving and accomplished, and often startling, novel in translation I've read in many seasons."

—The Wall Street Journal

"A runaway bestseller in Korea poised for a similar run here."

—Publishers Weekly

One of "10 Titles to Pick Up Now"

—O Magazine

"Translated deftly by native English speaker Chi-young Kim."

—The Globe and Mail

"[A] moving portrayal of the surprising nature, sudden sacrifices, and secret reveries of motherhood."

—Elle Magazine

One of Amazon's Top 10 Literature & Fiction Books for 2011

—Amazon.com

Amazon Best Books of the Month, April 2011

—Amazon.com

Selected for the April 2011 Indie Next List, "Great Reads from Booksellers You Trust."

—IndieBound

"[A] haunting and deceptively simple book about a mother's sudden disappearance.... Shin renders a tender and beautiful portrait of South Korea, but the novel recognizes a familial dilemma experienced throughout the world."

—Ms. Magazine Blog

"[T]he writing is sharp, biting, and intensely moving.... This Korean million-plus-copy best-seller is an impressive exploration of family love, poverty, and triumphing over hardship."

—Booklist

"Partly a metaphor for Korea’s social shift from rural to urban, partly an elegy to the intensity of family bonds as constructed and maintained by self-denying women, this is tender writing."

—Kirkus Reviews

"Already a prominent writer in Korea, Shin finally makes her English-language debut with what will appeal to all readers who appreciate compelling, page-turning prose. Stay tuned: Mom should be one of this year’s most-deserving best sellers."

—Library Journal

"Haunting . . . Fervent . . . but also sinuous and elusive."

—Boston Sunday Globe

"Some books change us.... This is one of those books. This is a book that alters the way we remember."

—Jamie Ford, the New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

"Here is a wonderful, original new voice, by turns plangent and piquant. Please Look After Mom takes us on a dual journey, to the unfamiliar corners of a foreign culture and into the shadowy recesses of the heart. In spare, exquisite prose, Kyung-sook Shin penetrates the very essence of what it means to be a family, and a human being."

—Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of March

"Please Look After Mom is an authentic, moving story that brings to vivid life the deep family connections that lie at the core of Korean culture. But it also speaks beautifully to an urgent issue of our time: migration, and how the movement of people from small towns and villages to big cities can cause heartbreak and even tragedy. This is a tapestry of family life that will be read all over the world. I loved this book."

—Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story

"A suspenseful and moving book. We join this family as soon as we open these pages and we never quite leave it. Or it never leaves us. Cleverly structured and brimming with secrets and revelations, Please Look After Mom is a powerful and memorable read."

—Edwidge Danticat, author of Breath, Eyes, Memory and Brother, I’m Dying

"Kyung-sook Shin has managed some kind of alchemy in this novel. Weaving together four vivid voices—of daughter, son, husband, and mother, each with the immediacy of a whispered confession—she has created a heartbreaking family mystery. Here is a deeply felt journey into a culture foreign to many—yet with a theme that is universal in its appeal. A terrific novel that stayed with me long after I'd finished its final, haunting pages. This is a real discovery."

—Abraham Verghese, bestselling 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 Y. K. Lee, bestselling author of The Piano Teacher

"Elegantly translated by Chi-Young Kim."

—BookPage

"[T]his novel...delivers ultimate gifts: moments of gorgeous lucidity, love that knows no depth, beauty in the details of many long-held memories."

—The Seattle Times

"Shin...writes a touching story that effectively weaves the rural, ages-old lifestyle of a mother into the modern urban lives of her children."

—The Star-Ledger

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