Mom Found Me

Eva Sørlie, Stein Arne Hove

An intimate, heart wrenching and beautifully illustrated retelling of the experience of adoption

I move quickly through the streets of Seoul, as if I am one of them — those who work more hours than anyone else in the world, who have risen from poverty in just a few decades, who have conquered the world through hard work and with K-pop and K-drama. Those who wear simple garments with clean lines even in 35 degrees of humid heat — the Koreans. I walk here almost as if the adoption never took place.

This is what Eva Sørlie (b. 1971) writes in the book’s after word. Adopted from South Korea, she grows up in a loving family in Lillestrøm. Norwegian through and through, perhaps except in the eyes of some observers. Then, in 2002, she receives an unexpected phone call: her family in South Korea has found her and wishes to make contact. A discovery and a desire that force her to confront her Korean origins in new ways. Eva’s South Korean mother had never intended to give her up for adoption. How could that happen? And is it really possible to have two mothers?

Eva Sørlie and illustrator Stein Arne Hove have chosen the graphic novel format to tell Eva’s story of adoption and identity. The story is a personal account, but also a contribution to the debate on adoption.