Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Apartment Women by Gu Byeong-mo - Wait list

Apartment Women

A Novel

by Gu Byeong-mo
Nancy Wu
Audiobook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 16 weeks
Place a hold Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 16 weeks
*INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*
From the New York Times Notable author of The Old Woman with the Knife comes a bracingly original story of family, marriage and the cultural expectations of motherhood, about four women whose lives intersect in dramatic and unexpected ways at a government-run apartment complex outside Seoul
When Yojin moves with her husband and daughter into the Dream Future Pilot Communal Apartments, she's ready for a fresh start. Located on the outskirts of Seoul, the experimental community is a government initiative designed to boost the national birth rate. Like her neighbors, Yojin has agreed to have at least two more children over the next ten years.
Yet, from the day she arrives, Yojin feels uneasy about the community spirit thrust upon her. Her concerns grow as communal child care begins and the other parents show their true colors. Apartment Women traces the lives of four women in the apartments, all with different aspirations and beliefs. Will they find a way to live peacefully? Or are the cultural expectations around parenthood stacked against them from the start?
A trenchant social novel from an award-winning author, Apartment Women incisively illuminates the unspoken imbalance of women's parenting labor, challenging the age-old assumption that "it takes a village" to raise a child.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    December 3, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781488231667
      • File size: 129787 KB
      • Duration: 04:30:23

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Nancy Wu's inviting narration brings listeners into the world of the first four families who move into a twelve-unit government housing complex outside of Seoul, South Korea. The story shifts among the perspectives of the four mothers, with primary focus on the newest resident, Yogin, and her neighbor, Hyonae. Wu portrays Yogin's efficient persona and contemplative nature as she struggles to balance the demands of her job as a pharmacy assistant and her new building's communal childcare duties. Wu wonderfully conveys the often-exasperated tone of Hyonae, a freelance illustrator who works from home, who has similar conflicts. The other mothers, who include a controlling supermom, are vibrantly presented in snapshots throughout the story. This powerful depiction of marriage, motherhood, and societal expectations packs a wallop. M.J. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading
Check out what's being checked out right now