The Best Girls - Min Jin Lee - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Min Jin Lee
SERIES: Disorder, #1
GENRE: Short Story.
RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: An impactful short story highlighting the patriarchal culture of South Korea through the eyes of a little girl. Gripping all the way till the stunning ending. If you want a happy story, stay away. For everyone else, this is a must-read.

Story Synopsis:
Our unnamed first-person narrator, who is nine years old, is the eldest of five children – with only the youngest being a boy. The narrator knows that only boys can provide for their families and bring acclaim to the family name. She also knows that her sisters and she must do all they can to ensure that her brother gets the best of everything, even if she herself is excellent at school. After all, she is a good girl. And this is what good girls do.


This story is a part of ‘Disorder’, described on Amazon as “a collection of six short stories of living nightmares, chilling visions, and uncanny imagination that explore a world losing its balance in terrifying ways.”

Doesn’t that description make you feel that this is a horror story?

Your instinct is right. It IS a horror story! It may not have paranormal elements or sinister entities. What it has is the most horrifying of all creatures: human beings.

I had first read this story in November 2020, and remember being blown away by the writing, the plot and most of all, the ending. When my GR friend Thibault reviewed it recently, I felt compelled to grab my copy and read it again, this time with the intention of penning down my feelings.

Did my feelings change? Not at all!

Was the story still as impactful? Absolutely!

Did the ending still leave me speechless? YES!

Our young narrator stays unnamed. And rightly so. After all, why should girls have a name or a voice, correct? It is boys who will save the souls of their parents, care for them in their old age, and bring honour to the family name. Girls are meant to stay silent and serve. And that’s what our little narrator stoically does till the end.

Till the end.

An end that leaves you haunted by the bravery of that little girl and the desperation of her decision.

Is this a story of South Korea alone? Nope. There are so many countries where the treatment of women is equally abysmal. Regional variations could exist, but in general, this story represents the typical South Asian, East Asian, and South-East Asian mentality of considering boys superior to girls.

Min Jin Lee is most known for her novel ‘Pachinko’, but this story ended up impressing me much more. Her knowledge of her culture as well as depiction of (flawed) human emotions comes out excellently within these few pages.

Other than the main theme, the story also highlights the pressure and responsibility faced by firstborn children, who are often considered substitutes for parents in terms of responsibility and caretaking for their siblings, no matter how young they are.

You know what makes this story even more tragic? The blurb says that it is inspired by a true event. I wish there were details of this event mentioned in the content, but neither the digital edition nor a Google search reveals anything. It breaks my heart that some child in actual S. Korea felt driven to take such an extreme decision. What kind of a world is this where our children don’t feel wanted or loved?

This is an unforgettable story, and it is also a painful one. But read it - you must. If for nothing else, then to realise the privilege your birth lottery has afforded you in ways great and small.

This standalone story is a part of the “Disorder” collection, and is currently available free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

If you wish to experience an equally impactful but lengthier novel about the patriarchal attitude towards women in South Korea, please read ‘Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982’ – one of my all-time favourite feminist literary fiction novels.

Editing to Add: My resourceful Goodreads friend Carolyn found out the details of the true incident this story is possibly based on. Please click on the links ONLY AFTER you have read the story. Please note that headline reveals a crucial plot development, so I am marking it as a spoiler.
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