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by Jimin Han
This "sweeping intergenerational saga" tells the story of a pampered and defiant South Korean matriarch thrust into the afterlife from which she seeks a second chance to make amends (Kirstin Chen)—and fights off a tragic curse that could devastate generations to come.
In South Korea, a 105-year-old woman receives a letter. Ten days later, she has been thrust into the afterlife, fighting to head off a curse that will otherwise devastate generations to come.
Hak Jeonga has always shouldered the burden of upholding the family name. When she sent her daughter-in-law to America to cover up an illegitimate birth, she was simply doing what was needed to preserve the reputations of her loved ones. How could she have known that decades later, this decision would return to haunt her—threatening to tear apart her bond with her beloved son, her relationship with her infuriatingly insolent sisters, and the future of the family she has worked so hard to protect?
Part ghost story and part family epic, The Apology is an incisive tale of sisterhood and diaspora, reaching back to the days of Japanese colonialism and the Korean War, and told through the singular voice of a defiant, funny, and unforgettable centenarian.
"The Apology… is a lovely, caustic and trauma-soaked example of the new literary embrace of actual ghosts." ―The Chicago Tribune
"Jeonga's narration is sharp and witty and a touch sly as she describes her present, disembodied state—the in-between, purgatory-like space her consciousness now occupies—as well as the events that led to her death…This is an enthralling multigenerational tale of familial secrets, trauma and healing." ―The New York Times
"Han's narrator is sly, funny, and flawed…[The Apology is] a satisfying tale with vivid relationships that will keep readers curious about this complex family shaped by war, loyalty, class-consciousness, and love." ―Booklist
"The Apology is an uncanny high wire act—arch, tender, mercurial. Jimin Han feels like Iris Murdoch's heir here, even as this novel came from an artistry that is all her own. This is a story unlike any other of Korea and America, and of a mother's love—majestic, a deathless avenger, shrewd and wild; an ajumma willing to do anything for her family, including defying death." ―Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
"What does it mean to be the keeper of the stories? What does it mean to be left behind? The Apology shows Jimin Han's talents as a skillful storyteller, interweaving questions of sisterhood and separation, generational secrets and ancestral love, through a singular and unforgettable centenarian voice." ―Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers
This information about The Apology was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jimin Han was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island; Dayton, Ohio; and Jamestown, New York. Her work has been supported by the New York State Council on the Arts. She is the author of A Small Revolution and has written for American Public Media's Weekend America, Poets & Writers, and Catapult, and other media outlets. She teaches at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, Pace University, and community writing centers. She lives outside New York City with her husband and children.
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