Truth or Fear

`Truth or Fear` is a collection of short stories written by women, all of which were winners in contests held annually since 1968 by ``Women Dong-a`` monthly. A total of 15 authors are represented in the collection. They include such seasoned writers as Park Wan-Seo, Yun Myung-Hye, Roh Soon-Ja, Yoo Duck-Hee, Kim Hyang-Sook and Cho Hye-Kyung. Last year`s contest-winning story by Song Eun-Il also appears.

Park Wan-Seo tells the history of her family in the short story, ``Passing Another Year,`` which depicts the deepening scars of people former North Koreans amid the reunions of separated families. Why didn`t the husband of the narrator`s paternal aunt, who left his home in the North for the South and later settled in the United States, apply for the reunion program?

The writer`s simple answer to this sensitive question is that ``It is up to the parties concerned whether to protect 50 years of privacy or conquer the regret of parting.`` Though he has the application form, the narrator can`t make up his mind whether to fill it in or not, a suggestion that the deep wounds of the national division continue even into future generations.

Kim Hyang-Sook wrote the title story ``Truth or Fear,`` in which she describes in a dry style the life of her writing a professor husband, who grows increasingly accustomed to life without his wife while living in a house alone near a university in a provincial area. Yoo Chun-Kang`s ``Most Frank Search About Marriage`` depicts the illusions of marriage held by a single woman.

Short story collection/439 pages/9,000 won/Dong-a Ilbo

Yun Jeong-Hoon digana@donga.com