“No one is clean. Living makes you dirty.”
This epic tale of a Korean family
accompanied me on my holiday. In fact, much of it was enjoyed on a sundrenched
beach lounger which seemed poles apart from the enormous struggles of its
characters. It does seem rather wrong to be reading about starving refugees
when drinking cocktails, perhaps that’s why I’ve chosen the quote above.
If you love a multi-generational historical
saga this one is definitely going to keep you turning those pages. The
characters are beautifully drawn, despite the breadth of time covered and the
number of them. You may find your eyes dampen with emotion as you are drawn
into unfamiliar worlds, only to realise how similar familial binds are no
matter where you hail from. It is strange to be able to relate so palpably to
characters from such foreign lands and historical periods and yet that is
exactly what you get here. Much of the story reminded me of my own
grandparents’ stories of crossing oceans and re-inventing their lives in a
foreign place – something that countless people whether due to war, economic
opportunity or choice, do every day.
There is a reason this novel was chosen as
one of the New York Public Library’s (my pictures below) 10 best of 2017 and
holds a place on the ALA’s
2018 Notable Books List.
I’m very excited to note that the author
will be appearing at the Sydney
Writer’s Festival and I’ll be attending her session on the novel next week.
The opportunity to hear more about the novel’s underpinnings direct from the
author has me counting the days!
5
out of 5, life is a journey of turbulent seas.
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