The Diary of a Korean Plant Parent

âWhere there are roots, there is hope.â

Kim Keum Hee is a self-confessed and proud âplant parentâ. She lives with her (human) husband and seventy-plus houseplants in her small apartment in Seoul. When life feels overwhelming, itâs her plants that keep her going. Her mood instantly improves when she watches the delicate leaves of her acacia dealbata finally flourish and she feels more hopeful when she discovers new roots on her dying ghost cactus.

Through summer, autumn, winter, and spring, Kim Keum Hee shares everyday observations about her family of houseplants and how they struggle and thrive through the shifting seasons. There are moments of deep profundity, and moments that will break your heart, but itâs hope and joy that lies at the heart of this book.

Written in intimate, elegant prose by one of South Koreaâs most acclaimed contemporary writers and published for the first time in English, this book is a âtender, funny, and quietly resilientâ (Darryl Cheng, author of The New Plant Parent) celebration of growth and change, love and loss, and holding on and letting go.