01 May / Secondhand World by Katherine Min [in Bloomsbury Review]
Don’t start this at night because you won’t get any sleep until you’ve finished the final page. And still, the characters will linger on. Min’s aching debut novel tells the story of Isadora Myung Hee Sohn – named after the dancer Isadora Duncan and called “Isa” – the daughter of Korean American immigrants struggling to find their place. The book opens with an orphaned Isa, having survived the fire that killed her parents, and moves backwards in time to reveal bit by bit the troubled, tragedy-filled lives of a family torn apart by misunderstandings, displacement, and loss.
Review: “In Celebration of Asian Pacific American Month: New & Notable Books,” The Bloomsbury Review, May/June 2007
Readers: Young Adult, Adult
Published: 2006
Couldn’t put the book down. Isa goes through amazing tragedies, yet the end of the book is tenderly hopeful, if not a definite “happy ending.” I think the struggles between immigrant parents and their children are really fascinating, even if I do find their conflicts painful and sad. Isa has a very complicated relationship with her parents, especially her father. And it isn’t until it’s too late that she truly appreciates how hard her father’s life is. An overall sad book, but I would recommend it!
I can’t remember how I stumbled on World, but I do recall being so wonderfully surprised at how good it was … I’ve been waiting for years for a follow-up … but nothing yet. Unless you’ve heard something? Min is definitely a powerful, affecting writer!
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According to Katherine Min’s website she’s working on something called The Fetishist. it’s on the bottom of this page http://www.katherinemin.com/bio.php
Thanks for letting me know … we’ll both be watching for it!