Shin’s Biographical Tale About Mother

By Chung Ah-young

Staff Reporter

What if your mother suddenly went missing? The word mother sometimes conjures up notions of sacrifice and devotion, particularly strong in Korean traditional thinking.

For Shin Kyung-sook, one of the nation's most popular authors, a mother is a source of her writings. The 45-year-old author got inspiration from her mother to write the new novel `Take Care of My Mom.''

The novel portrays a mother from a different angle, in a story based on her real mother after a 15-day stay with her in her hometown.

The story revolves around an old mother who lives in a rural area. One day, she comes up to Seoul to visit her children on her birthday. But she goes missing in a crowded subway station in Seoul.

When she disappeared, she was with her husband. But he let go of her hand and was too late in realizing she was not with him in the hustle-and-bustle of the subway station.

The family members desperately try to find her, publishing posters and posting her picture on the Internet and in newspapers.

Park So-nyeo, the mother, was old and suffered from Alzheimer's so she wasn't able to find her children's houses. But other family members weren't aware of her illness.