First published 2020
Margot Lee cannot reach her mother by phone. When the twenty-six-year-old visits their old Koreatown apartment in Los Angeles, she learns that Mina has died under suspicious circumstances. The shocking news propels Margot into investigating her mother's past. She begins uncovering the fragile threads that bound together Mina's existence as a Korean War orphan who lived in America without documentation. Through her search, Margot realizes she understood very little about the woman who raised her alone. The narrative alternates between Margot's investigation and Mina's experiences during her initial year in Los Angeles decades earlier. As a new arrival, Mina struggled to survive the challenges of pursuing reinvention in America. She worked stocking products at a Korean market for minimal wages. Despite her financial struggles, Mina unexpectedly developed romantic feelings for someone. This relationship triggered a chain of events that would影响 her life for years afterward, ultimately connecting to the circumstances surrounding her death.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, contemporary, asian-american, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: America, Korea, Koreatown, Los Angeles
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
384 pages · Hardcover · Park Row Books