A mother who works as a scrub mistress at the bathhouse 

and her daughter who is studying to become a dancer

And wearisome women who visit women’s bathhouses

The secret stories of women of this age as seen from a place off-limits to men

Hye-ja, a widow and single mother who has been pushed to the edge, finds workas a “scrub mistress” at a 24-hour sauna. Growing up in the women’s bathhouse without her own run, Hye-ja’s daughter and narrator of the story studies dance anddreams of becoming a famous dancer and escaping the women’s bathhouse. This is how this mother-daughter story set in a women’s bathhouse begins. Every day, Hye-ja scrubs women's bodies while her dancer daughter performs and uses her body to create beautiful scenes: although mother and daughter are headed in the same direction in the pursuit of a “successful light,” there is something rattling between the two of them. Despite being scorned and spoken down to, Hye-ja has kept herjob as a scrubbing mistress to keep her and her daughter’s livelihoods; on the otherhand, her daughter, despite knowing her mother’s pain, wants to escape the women’s bathhouse.

The several women customers who come to the women’s bathhouse also add intrigue,energy, sympathy, and meaning to the novel. Chairwoman Oh, as she is called in the neighborhood, runs an import company and is the most charismatic of the charactersHye-ja meets. She bravely comes to the women's bathhouse despite having lost one of her breasts to breast cancer. Other women who have the scars of surgery also gain the courage to come to the bathhouse again thanks to Chairwoman Oh. And inone touching scene, they strip to show each their scars and exchange health advice.On the other hand, there is a woman named Director Yoon, who first taught dance to Hye-ja’s daughter. Director Yoon, who has chosen never to get married and isfrequently in relationships, shows Hye-ja’s daughter that she can free her rigid bodythrough dance. Unlike Hye-ja who wishes that her daughter succeeds as a dancer,takes business classes, and gives performances all over the world, Director Yoonadvises Hye-ja’s daughter to love and enjoy life. In addition to this, there are many more vivid women characters that heighten the realness of the novel—characters like the owner of the sauna who attends Hye-ja’s daughter’s commencement ceremonyin her busy mother’s stead and forcefully feeds old milk to people because she thinks milk is best just before it hits its expiration date; as well as a college admissions cram school advisor who gets in a fight with Hye-ja when acting superior to others in the bathhouse.

Support from Changbi Publishers.