My Dearest Mother

My Mother tells the true story of a rural family in the 1990s, following the hardships endured by Fang, a widowed mother. She lost her husband at thirty-two, but refused to remarry because she could not bear to leave her children. By day she was their father, and by night their mother, working tirelessly to raise her son and daughter. Years of hard labor left her plagued by illness, while cruel neighbors bullied her and injured people in a dispute over a homestead, forcing her to take them to court to defend her rights. After decades of poverty and hardship, her children finally grew up, and just as it seemed her difficult days were about to end, Fang, who had worked herself to the bone all her life, was suddenly struck by a car just days before her son's wedding. This is a moving portrait of the strength, selflessness, and boundless love of a widowed mother.