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Inheritance
Not yet published
Expected 7 Apr 26A Korean Canadian woman returns to the prairies, where she revisits her childhood and confronts her haunting guilt.
Anne Kim is a New York lawyer whose success is built on forgetting the past. When her father dies and she returns to Edmonton for the funeral, she is shocked to discover that he was from North Korea and that he left his brother behind.
As Anne reads the undelivered letters her father wrote to his brother about life in Canada, she is transported back to her childhood during the 1980s and 90s. She recalls the struggles her parents faced as immigrants who ran a grocery store in a rural prairie town. Anne and her brother, Charles, felt the weight of their father's expectations: whereas Anne was driven to excel and became an overachiever, Charles rebelled, determined to pursue his own dreams. His rebellion created a rift that culminated in a devastating act, irrevocably shattering the family and leaving Anne overwhelmed by inescapable guilt.
Inheritance explores the immigrant experience, the sacrifices made by both parents and children, and the way trauma is transferred to the next generation. As Anne completes her journey to the past, she emerges to finally define life on her own terms.
Anne Kim is a New York lawyer whose success is built on forgetting the past. When her father dies and she returns to Edmonton for the funeral, she is shocked to discover that he was from North Korea and that he left his brother behind.
As Anne reads the undelivered letters her father wrote to his brother about life in Canada, she is transported back to her childhood during the 1980s and 90s. She recalls the struggles her parents faced as immigrants who ran a grocery store in a rural prairie town. Anne and her brother, Charles, felt the weight of their father's expectations: whereas Anne was driven to excel and became an overachiever, Charles rebelled, determined to pursue his own dreams. His rebellion created a rift that culminated in a devastating act, irrevocably shattering the family and leaving Anne overwhelmed by inescapable guilt.
Inheritance explores the immigrant experience, the sacrifices made by both parents and children, and the way trauma is transferred to the next generation. As Anne completes her journey to the past, she emerges to finally define life on her own terms.
320 pages, Paperback
Expected publication April 7, 2026
103 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 21, 2025
This is a novel that reads like a memoir. The protagonist is the female child of a couple who escaped wartime Korea to come to Canada. Her older brother carries the traditional burden of eventually leading the family, and he protests against it when his future is shattered by his father's shortsightedness. It is then up to the sister to take up that burden which is not traditionally hers to inherit. In the meantime, the parents struggle to run their own business and survive economically.
It is with some relief that the story continues enough into the future so that we can read how it resolves. The transition to becoming an even somewhat accepted part of society can be easier for children than their parents, but it is never actually easy. Learning more about people from other cultures emigrating to new countries is important for everyone. This story helps to develop the empathy that we all could use more of.
It is with some relief that the story continues enough into the future so that we can read how it resolves. The transition to becoming an even somewhat accepted part of society can be easier for children than their parents, but it is never actually easy. Learning more about people from other cultures emigrating to new countries is important for everyone. This story helps to develop the empathy that we all could use more of.
Displaying 1 of 1 review