The Best Girls

Inspired by a true event, this powerful short story explores the meaning of patriarchy and the cost of female silence through the eyes of a dutiful young girl.

An excellent student from a poor, traditional family in Seoul, the narrator has absorbed the same message her whole life. Only a boy can provide the family with dignity and wealth. Not her. Not her three sisters. Receiving approval only for uncomplaining sacrifice, she has resolved to take on her family’s troubles. She is a good girl. And she knows what good girls must do.