Slanted eyes, straight, black hair, yellow skin. These are the features of a Korean girl growing up American in Minnesota. Adopted at 18 months old, Sarah Thorson does not know the land of her birth or her birth mother. Her family does not speak about how Sarah is different. She was chosen. Sarah is not Korean—she is an American.
Slanted eyes, straight, black hair, yellow skin. These are the features of Kyung-Sook, a woman living a life in Korea without her daughter. She knows nothing of what happened to her daughter after giving birth and has buried the pain of never knowing what became of her child.
No longer able to stand not knowing who she is and where she comes from, Sarah makes the decision to move to Korea, enrolling in a Korean-language exchange program. During her time in Korea she tries to learn the language, fit in, and find out more about her past. The decision to go on a talk show dedicated to finding missing people may be the key to reuniting Sarah with her mother.
Told from both viewpoints using parallel storylines delineated by time, Somebody’s Daughter tells the tale of two women trying to come to terms with identity, sorrow, and the decisions that have altered their lives. Sarah must find her way to reconciling that she is a Korean girl in an American world and an American girl in a Korean body, a powerful journey of self discovery and identity.
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