✪ Winner of 2013 Daesan Literary Awards
✪ For fans of Cho Nam-joo's KIM JIYOUNG, BORN 1982 and Han Kang's VEGETARIAN

She has shared the roof with that woman for five years, yet still can’t bring herself to like her. That woman comes from the countryside, has little education, insists on oudated habits, and occupying the kitchen every day with her endless cooking and dishwashing. She dreams a life without that woman, but her husband’s practical argument always silences her: they can’t afford another babysitter beside that woman.

That woman is her mother-in-law.

A year ago, that woman was diagnosed with xerostomia, a rare illness that halts saliva production. With the condition keeps deteriorating, all makes her feel that sharing a home with that woman becomes an unbearable torture.

One morning, she wakes up to find the water supply to their appartment cut off. She is certain that woman must have known about the scheduled outage but failed to prepare. The anger she has been suppressing for years boils over, and she decides it’s time to confront that woman—on her own terms.

Beautifully written with a distinctive and poetic style, WOMEN AND THEIR EVOLVING ENEMIES powerfully portrays the deep-rooted resentment toward women. The author skillfully dives into the complex dynamics between women, illustrating how they unintentionally hurt one another within the constraints of a patriarchal society.