A cult feminist hit in South Korea, Hello Baby is a gripping and intimate portrait of motherhood, fertility and womanhood for fans of Butter and Breasts and Eggs. Outside the chat, they had different jobs, personalities, financial backgrounds, but inside, they were all mothers-to-be anxiously awaiting their babies. In a group chat called ‘Hello Baby’, six women share the anxieties and absurdities of undergoing IVF.
They first met at Baby Angel Hospital, an elite fertility clinic in Seoul. Outside the chat, each woman is different – a journalist, a police officer, a vet, a lawyer and two housewives – but inside it, they’ve come to confide in one another. They know it is unlikely they will all get their happy ending, but while messaging, anything seems possible.
So, when 46-year-old Jeong-hyo suddenly announces she has stopped treatment and goes silent, it rocks them all. One year later, on Lunar New Year, Jeong-hyo sends a message announcing the birth of her daughter. As the stunned women count down to their visit to meet her and the new baby, they each reckon with their own journeys.
Might this news hold fresh promise for each of them? To know that they will need to understand just how this unexpected miracle came to pass. A cult feminist hit in South Korea, in this wry, courageous and disarmingly honest novel, Kim Eui-kyung, translated by Sora Kim-Russell, offers a unique and daring exploration of womanhood and motherhood today.
