Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories

The characters in this perceptive collection from Cho (Kim Ji-young, Born 1982) chafe against their families’ expectations and try out new roles in their lives. The pensive “Under the Plum Tree” follows subtle alterations in the relationship between two octagenarian sisters after one of them is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and the other changes her name, a move her husband resisted while he was alive. In “Runaway,” a woman who defied her father’s wishes that she live at home until marriage returns to visit her mother after her father runs off. In his absence, the family develops new routines, such as eating food he banned from the house. The sardonic title story, told from the point of view of an unhappy new employee at a dysfunctional ad agency, chronicles the consequences when her boss fires a coworker who had quietly held the business together. In the acidic “Dear Hyunnam Oppa,” which takes the form of a woman’s break-up letter to her abusive boyfriend, she sarcastically thanks him for making all the decisions for them and taking care of her. While some of the stories, including “Puppy Love, 2020,” set during the Covid-19 pandemic, are relatively slight, most are fueled by a palpable sense of rebellion. Taken together, the chorus of voices produces a stirring feminist anthem. Agent: Marcus Hoffmann, Regal Hoffmann & Assoc. (Oct.)