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Inheritance
A young woman returns to the prairies, where she revisits her immigrant childhood and confronts a haunting guilt, in this debut novel by a brilliant new talent.
Anne Kim is a lawyer in New York, her success built on forgetting the past. When her father dies, she returns to Edmonton for the funeral and is shocked to discover he was from North Korea and left his brother behind.
As she reads the undelivered letters her father wrote to his brother about life in Canada, she is transported back to her childhood in 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 Anne was driven to excel and overachieve, whereas Charles rebelled, determined to pursue his own dreams. His rebellion created a rift that culminated in a devastating act, irrevocably shattering their family and leaving Anne overwhelmed by an inescapable guilt.
Inheritance explores the immigrant experience, the sacrifices made by both parents and children, and how trauma transfers to the next generation. As Anne journeys to the past, she emerges to finally define life on her own terms, and her story will resonate long after the final page.
Anne Kim is a lawyer in New York, her success built on forgetting the past. When her father dies, she returns to Edmonton for the funeral and is shocked to discover he was from North Korea and left his brother behind.
As she reads the undelivered letters her father wrote to his brother about life in Canada, she is transported back to her childhood in 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 Anne was driven to excel and overachieve, whereas Charles rebelled, determined to pursue his own dreams. His rebellion created a rift that culminated in a devastating act, irrevocably shattering their family and leaving Anne overwhelmed by an inescapable guilt.
Inheritance explores the immigrant experience, the sacrifices made by both parents and children, and how trauma transfers to the next generation. As Anne journeys to the past, she emerges to finally define life on her own terms, and her story will resonate long after the final page.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 7, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
April 26, 2026
4.5 Stars rounded up to 5.
“To be an immigrant, good or bad, is about straddling two homes, whilst knowing you don't really belong to either.”
― Nikesh Shukla, The Good Immigrant
A compelling debut novel by Jane Park about a Korean family immigrating to Alberta, Canada in the 1980s. The parents endure menial labor, racism, and family tension while eventually owning a grocery store. The novel is written from the daughter's point of view, spanning two time periods: the 1980s and 2014, when Anne, now a New York lawyer returns for her father's funeral.
Jane Park is a second-generation Korean Canadian, and the details of the immigrant experience including their sacrifice and generational family baggage were authentic cultural expressions for this reader. It felt like a memoir.
Well-written and recommended
“To be an immigrant, good or bad, is about straddling two homes, whilst knowing you don't really belong to either.”
― Nikesh Shukla, The Good Immigrant
A compelling debut novel by Jane Park about a Korean family immigrating to Alberta, Canada in the 1980s. The parents endure menial labor, racism, and family tension while eventually owning a grocery store. The novel is written from the daughter's point of view, spanning two time periods: the 1980s and 2014, when Anne, now a New York lawyer returns for her father's funeral.
Jane Park is a second-generation Korean Canadian, and the details of the immigrant experience including their sacrifice and generational family baggage were authentic cultural expressions for this reader. It felt like a memoir.
Well-written and recommended
May 11, 2026
4.5! This wonderful debut is full of heart and great storytelling. I’m so happy I picked this up on a whim. I’m truly excited for this new Canadian talent to be on the writing scene, and see where Jane’s writing career takes her. Add this to your TBRs!
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.
April 7, 2026
Happy pub day to Inheritance by Jane Park! Thank you House of Anansi Press for this advanced copy, this was such a good read!
I’m really impressed with this debut! This book flips between the past when Anne and her family immigrate to Canada hoping for a better life, and the present, where they are now dealing with the father’s death. This book also takes a close look at the racism Korean communities have experienced and still experience today.
As a child, Anne and her family were one of the only Korean families in the few areas of Canada they had lived growing up. Not only were they trying to adjust to life in another country, but they were doing so alone. They eventually find friendship in their neighbourhood and begin to build a social life. Throughout these experiences, Anne, her brother Charles, and her parents experience racism in many different ways. This book brings racism to the forefront, allowing readers to generate conversation about it.
I think this is a fantastic debut novel! Jane Park very thoughtfully and carefully wove together Anne’s past and present and did a great job generating dialogue amongst characters. I really enjoyed the girlhood throughout this story, too. As Anne tries to find friendship growing up, she deals with the trials and tribulations of trying to fit in. This experience is harder for people who immigrate from other countries, but it is an aspect of growing up that many readers will be able to relate to.
Park has written a great first novel! I can see how this author will grow the more she writes, and I’m so excited to see what she does next! This book is so important to have on our shelves and to be talking about with other readers. I think it can show people a lot about how our society is still failing in many areas. 4/5 ✨.
I’m really impressed with this debut! This book flips between the past when Anne and her family immigrate to Canada hoping for a better life, and the present, where they are now dealing with the father’s death. This book also takes a close look at the racism Korean communities have experienced and still experience today.
As a child, Anne and her family were one of the only Korean families in the few areas of Canada they had lived growing up. Not only were they trying to adjust to life in another country, but they were doing so alone. They eventually find friendship in their neighbourhood and begin to build a social life. Throughout these experiences, Anne, her brother Charles, and her parents experience racism in many different ways. This book brings racism to the forefront, allowing readers to generate conversation about it.
I think this is a fantastic debut novel! Jane Park very thoughtfully and carefully wove together Anne’s past and present and did a great job generating dialogue amongst characters. I really enjoyed the girlhood throughout this story, too. As Anne tries to find friendship growing up, she deals with the trials and tribulations of trying to fit in. This experience is harder for people who immigrate from other countries, but it is an aspect of growing up that many readers will be able to relate to.
Park has written a great first novel! I can see how this author will grow the more she writes, and I’m so excited to see what she does next! This book is so important to have on our shelves and to be talking about with other readers. I think it can show people a lot about how our society is still failing in many areas. 4/5 ✨.
May 4, 2026
A moving family drama debut featuring a Korean Canadian woman struggling with family expectations and guilt from the past. This book tackled some heavy topics like grief over the death of a loved one, Anti-Asian racism, identity, community, family history, addiction and immigrant parent expectations. It was good on audio narrated by Cindy Kay and perfect for fans of the show Kim's Convenience. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!
May 28, 2026
Inheritance follows Anne and her brother as they grow up in a Korean immigrant household in Canada, carrying the weight of their parents’ sacrifices and expectations. As they navigate identity, family pressure, and the pursuit of success, the novel explores what happens when the life your parents dream for you begins to conflict with the person you truly are.
This is a tragic and familiar story about the expectations often placed on children of immigrants, especially when parents have sacrificed everything in hopes that their children will succeed. The pressure Anne and her brother experience felt very real, and I think many second-generation children, particularly from immigrant families, will recognize parts of themselves in this story.
I really appreciated the Korean culture woven throughout the book, especially from the perspective of a Korean child growing up in Canada where that culture can feel distant or fragmented. There’s a quiet tension between heritage and belonging that the novel captures well. The burden to succeed, to become someone your parents need you to be rather than who you truly are, was one of the strongest aspects of the story.
That said, while the themes were emotionally resonant, the overall story felt very familiar. There’s nothing wrong with predictability, but if you’ve read other novels about children of Asian immigrants navigating family expectations in Canada or America, this follows many of the same emotional beats. Because of that, there wasn’t much that fully pulled me in or surprised me.
The pacing also felt uneven. Much of the story moved slowly, lingering in the emotional tension, before the ending suddenly felt rushed in comparison.
Overall, Inheritance is a reflective and emotionally grounded novel about family pressure, identity, and the weight of expectation. While it didn’t completely stand out for me narratively, its themes and cultural perspective will likely resonate deeply with many readers.
This is a tragic and familiar story about the expectations often placed on children of immigrants, especially when parents have sacrificed everything in hopes that their children will succeed. The pressure Anne and her brother experience felt very real, and I think many second-generation children, particularly from immigrant families, will recognize parts of themselves in this story.
I really appreciated the Korean culture woven throughout the book, especially from the perspective of a Korean child growing up in Canada where that culture can feel distant or fragmented. There’s a quiet tension between heritage and belonging that the novel captures well. The burden to succeed, to become someone your parents need you to be rather than who you truly are, was one of the strongest aspects of the story.
That said, while the themes were emotionally resonant, the overall story felt very familiar. There’s nothing wrong with predictability, but if you’ve read other novels about children of Asian immigrants navigating family expectations in Canada or America, this follows many of the same emotional beats. Because of that, there wasn’t much that fully pulled me in or surprised me.
The pacing also felt uneven. Much of the story moved slowly, lingering in the emotional tension, before the ending suddenly felt rushed in comparison.
Overall, Inheritance is a reflective and emotionally grounded novel about family pressure, identity, and the weight of expectation. While it didn’t completely stand out for me narratively, its themes and cultural perspective will likely resonate deeply with many readers.
July 16, 2026
This is not as much of a story about financial inheritance. It's more of a story about inheriting generational trauma and everything that comes with being an immigrant family in a predominantly white town. The wounds ran deep in this story, which was told from Anne's POV, the younger daughter's perspective.
Anne's struggle to fit in throughout her childhood while also making up for her brother's shortcomings felt so realistic. Pleasing her parents and putting aside any thought about her own ambitions or interests are unfortunately too common in real life. Even the way she was so closed off to feeling and expressing her emotions with others made so much sense. Jane Park captured all her complicated emotions so well, but especially Anne's desire to understand the family's past.
Finally, I was definitely not expecting the bombshell twist in the last few chapters!!! I felt most sad for Charles in some instances because he was not able to see eye to eye with his father's opinions about what success looked like for himself. His father unfortunately pushed him away, causing him to rebel and make poor choices. The impact of his youth on his middle age years was incredibly depressing.
Anne's struggle to fit in throughout her childhood while also making up for her brother's shortcomings felt so realistic. Pleasing her parents and putting aside any thought about her own ambitions or interests are unfortunately too common in real life. Even the way she was so closed off to feeling and expressing her emotions with others made so much sense. Jane Park captured all her complicated emotions so well, but especially Anne's desire to understand the family's past.
Finally, I was definitely not expecting the bombshell twist in the last few chapters!!! I felt most sad for Charles in some instances because he was not able to see eye to eye with his father's opinions about what success looked like for himself. His father unfortunately pushed him away, causing him to rebel and make poor choices. The impact of his youth on his middle age years was incredibly depressing.
April 12, 2026
4.5 stars …
April 8, 2026
The fact this is a debut speaks volumes to Parks talent not just for how approachable this story is but how infused it is with empathy. The immigrant experience is not one I know first hand but it’s exploration always strikes me with new information, understanding and revelation both on my own privelage and the reminder of the paths others walk by choice or not.
Inheritance was easy to grasp while offering up layers of familial dynamics and sacrifice. The letters were this beautiful plot device that kept all of us including our protagonist eager but it was her reactions that compelled me. When we can be reminded of the whys we have the chance to get to the good stuff.
Inheritance was easy to grasp while offering up layers of familial dynamics and sacrifice. The letters were this beautiful plot device that kept all of us including our protagonist eager but it was her reactions that compelled me. When we can be reminded of the whys we have the chance to get to the good stuff.
June 18, 2026
Inheritance follows Anne Kim as she confronts the lingering shadows of her past, returning to her childhood as an immigrant to uncover how those formative experiences shaped her sense of self and the trajectory of her family's life.
Inheritance has an atmospheric quality to it—a perpetual cloud hovering overhead, waiting for the inevitable downpour, and then navigating the aftermath of the storm. The bleakness of the whole book is what made it a compelling read. The storytelling is effortless. Admittedly, there were moments that are deeply engaging, though there were also stretches that drag on a little longer than necessary. There was also something distinctly Korean about it. I can’t quite articulate what it was, but there’s an air to it that is unmistakably tied to Korean culture, or at least to the Korean works I’ve read.
The author intricately weaves together immigrant struggles, generational trauma, and racism, creating a novel that is both evocative and profound. While I have no issue with the writing style, I felt like this book didn't connect with me as much as I wanted it to. It gave me the feeling that I was just an outsider looking in. It wasn't as immersive or magnetic as I had hoped. Nevertheless, Jane Park is definitely an author to watch out for.
Inheritance has an atmospheric quality to it—a perpetual cloud hovering overhead, waiting for the inevitable downpour, and then navigating the aftermath of the storm. The bleakness of the whole book is what made it a compelling read. The storytelling is effortless. Admittedly, there were moments that are deeply engaging, though there were also stretches that drag on a little longer than necessary. There was also something distinctly Korean about it. I can’t quite articulate what it was, but there’s an air to it that is unmistakably tied to Korean culture, or at least to the Korean works I’ve read.
The author intricately weaves together immigrant struggles, generational trauma, and racism, creating a novel that is both evocative and profound. While I have no issue with the writing style, I felt like this book didn't connect with me as much as I wanted it to. It gave me the feeling that I was just an outsider looking in. It wasn't as immersive or magnetic as I had hoped. Nevertheless, Jane Park is definitely an author to watch out for.
April 25, 2026
Inheritance takes place in two timelines-early 1990s and 2014 when Anne returns to Edmonton (from NYC where she is now a lawyer) for her father’s funeral. Her Korean parents brought the family to Canada, and more specifically a small town a few hours away from Edmonton, to give the children opportunity. They worked hard, buying a grocery store with meagre means, and adjusted to living in a place where racism was of the time and very blatant. Anne struggled with being different from her classmates and of being second to her brother—even after an incident that changed everything.
Anne is one of only a very small number of non-white students at her school, her parents have expectations of her and even more so of her brother to make them proud. Anne and Charles live a life of duty to the family. Everything the children do are seen to reflect on their parents, and their parents before them. It is one of the themes of the book that I found most interesting as it really highlighted the difference of living for one’s self or for one’s family.
Coming from an immigrant family whose English was limited and growing up in this era was something I was familiar with. That being said, I am white and cannot understand how a person of colour would experience this. I understood the looks of horror at school lunches brought (everyone had peanut butter at my school and I had liver pâté), the blue collar vs. educated/white collar lifestyles, the broken English, and other traits that made me different than my peers and often left me ostracized but I was never called slurs and no judgements about ‘’those people” were made about my family that were generalized to race.
Park has written a fantastic debut and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. Also I love the title and meanings associated with the word Inheritance in this novel.
Thank you kindly to @houseofanansi for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. Inheritance is now available!
Anne is one of only a very small number of non-white students at her school, her parents have expectations of her and even more so of her brother to make them proud. Anne and Charles live a life of duty to the family. Everything the children do are seen to reflect on their parents, and their parents before them. It is one of the themes of the book that I found most interesting as it really highlighted the difference of living for one’s self or for one’s family.
Coming from an immigrant family whose English was limited and growing up in this era was something I was familiar with. That being said, I am white and cannot understand how a person of colour would experience this. I understood the looks of horror at school lunches brought (everyone had peanut butter at my school and I had liver pâté), the blue collar vs. educated/white collar lifestyles, the broken English, and other traits that made me different than my peers and often left me ostracized but I was never called slurs and no judgements about ‘’those people” were made about my family that were generalized to race.
Park has written a fantastic debut and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. Also I love the title and meanings associated with the word Inheritance in this novel.
Thank you kindly to @houseofanansi for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. Inheritance is now available!
April 8, 2026
Book review: 4.5/5 ⭐️
Genre: literary fiction
Themes: inherited trauma, race, migrant experience
📖 Read if you like: The Boat People, The Last Story of Mina Lee
This novel almost reads like it could be a memoir. Every child of immigrants, every person who was defined by their otherness in a sea of white, every person who has felt the weight of expectation and familial duty will understand this story. There were parts of this novel that could have been plucked from my own experiences, so it is safe to say I connected to the narrative.
It explored all the nuanced ways in which parents and children interact and sacrifice for each other. For those escaping poverty, war, or an intolerant regime many will migrate to new countries with hopes for a better future, even if the actuality is to new life of struggle. They will hedge all their sacrifices and hard work on the scales of their children’s future success. They will accept racism and open hostility, back breaking work and cruelty only to see their children have a chance. It is a great honour and also a great responsibility to be such children.
While the strive for academic excellence is something many children of immigrants can aspire to in payment for all the sacrifices made on their behalf, there are many side effects that are uncomfortable to dissect. The element of Asian guilt was something I felt deeply, as well the responsibility to care for your parents as they did for you. The differentiation of gender with the way sons are prized and coddled, while daughters quietly succeed and bear the burden of care. The imbedded racism within Asian cultures and the glorification of whiteness in seeking a partner or standard of beauty. The need to segregate from people that look like you lest you be typecasted. The loss of a culture, language and history, so that you can assimilate faster and belong to this new land. The exchange of personal ambition for financial stability that will benefit the whole family. This novel explored all of these topics and much more besides.
It was an incredibly relatable exploration of the immigrant experience that was both heartbreaking and insightful. A revelation of duty, love, identity, sacrifice, longing and redemption that was poignant and honest. It did not shy away from ugly truths and the traumas that are passed through family lines. There is a cost to migration and a cost to success that was beautifully rendered in this portrait of a fractured family that left on a hopeful note of healing and reconnection.
Thank you to Colored Pages book tour, Pegasus Books and Jane for a gifted copy of this book for review. I am thrilled to see a more diverse range of voices and stories being published and highly recommend this debut! Also shout out to a Canadian based narrative and author!
Genre: literary fiction
Themes: inherited trauma, race, migrant experience
📖 Read if you like: The Boat People, The Last Story of Mina Lee
This novel almost reads like it could be a memoir. Every child of immigrants, every person who was defined by their otherness in a sea of white, every person who has felt the weight of expectation and familial duty will understand this story. There were parts of this novel that could have been plucked from my own experiences, so it is safe to say I connected to the narrative.
It explored all the nuanced ways in which parents and children interact and sacrifice for each other. For those escaping poverty, war, or an intolerant regime many will migrate to new countries with hopes for a better future, even if the actuality is to new life of struggle. They will hedge all their sacrifices and hard work on the scales of their children’s future success. They will accept racism and open hostility, back breaking work and cruelty only to see their children have a chance. It is a great honour and also a great responsibility to be such children.
While the strive for academic excellence is something many children of immigrants can aspire to in payment for all the sacrifices made on their behalf, there are many side effects that are uncomfortable to dissect. The element of Asian guilt was something I felt deeply, as well the responsibility to care for your parents as they did for you. The differentiation of gender with the way sons are prized and coddled, while daughters quietly succeed and bear the burden of care. The imbedded racism within Asian cultures and the glorification of whiteness in seeking a partner or standard of beauty. The need to segregate from people that look like you lest you be typecasted. The loss of a culture, language and history, so that you can assimilate faster and belong to this new land. The exchange of personal ambition for financial stability that will benefit the whole family. This novel explored all of these topics and much more besides.
It was an incredibly relatable exploration of the immigrant experience that was both heartbreaking and insightful. A revelation of duty, love, identity, sacrifice, longing and redemption that was poignant and honest. It did not shy away from ugly truths and the traumas that are passed through family lines. There is a cost to migration and a cost to success that was beautifully rendered in this portrait of a fractured family that left on a hopeful note of healing and reconnection.
Thank you to Colored Pages book tour, Pegasus Books and Jane for a gifted copy of this book for review. I am thrilled to see a more diverse range of voices and stories being published and highly recommend this debut! Also shout out to a Canadian based narrative and author!
August 16, 2026
Really got into a groove with this one - would recommend a few of the plot twists really got me. I even went to the met to see some Korean artwork cause I was inspired/curious. I’m going to read through some of the other reviews want to hear more thoughts
September 13, 2026
A heartbreaking and painful story of the daughter of Korean immigrants growing up in a remote small town in Alberta, Canada, Park painfully illuminates the personal experience of intergenerational trauma, domestic violence, misogyny, patriarchy, and racism. I felt that Park did an excellent job of bringing all of these issues to light - of showing, not telling - and of not veering away from the difficult dynamics between Korean immigrants themselves.
This is another book to add to the growing canon of books about how "surprise, racism exists in Canada!"
This is another book to add to the growing canon of books about how "surprise, racism exists in Canada!"
June 9, 2026
There were a lot of moments in this book that felt like they were trying too hard to make you cry, but it’s a touching story posing many interesting questions.
There’s a lot this novel wants you to think about in terms of property inheritance, especially whiteness as property and, by extension, “Koreanness” as property (or something with a property-like quality that can or cannot be inherited).
Note that a lot of the characters have already been written in other stories (see: Native Speaker), though it’s unfair to judge this author’s debut with a character archetype we’ve inherited from decades of media before us.
Also note that the prose in this book is very straightforward, almost in a journalistic/Hemingway-esque style, which makes for an easy but at times dull reading (especially in the middle section of the book where we’re essentially stuck in a flashback limbo for -100 pages before something happens in current time besides driving places and tear-eyed chats). But I also imagine the author made this choice intentionally, since the narrator is supposed to have lost her creative spark for her legal career.
There’s a lot this novel wants you to think about in terms of property inheritance, especially whiteness as property and, by extension, “Koreanness” as property (or something with a property-like quality that can or cannot be inherited).
Note that a lot of the characters have already been written in other stories (see: Native Speaker), though it’s unfair to judge this author’s debut with a character archetype we’ve inherited from decades of media before us.
Also note that the prose in this book is very straightforward, almost in a journalistic/Hemingway-esque style, which makes for an easy but at times dull reading (especially in the middle section of the book where we’re essentially stuck in a flashback limbo for -100 pages before something happens in current time besides driving places and tear-eyed chats). But I also imagine the author made this choice intentionally, since the narrator is supposed to have lost her creative spark for her legal career.
July 6, 2026
alberta?! 2nd gen immigrants?! ok 🙋🏻♀️
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Park's aptly titled debut novel, INHERITANCE, meticulously examines the fault lines of a fractured Korean immigrant family with graceful precision, exploring the weight of trauma entwined with tradition and family expectations, the loneliness of growing up as "other" in a predominantly white town, and coming to terms with a complicated family history and uncomfortable truths. Part coming-of-age novel and part historical family-saga, this debut novel authentically captures the emotional toll of family sacrifice for the dream of a better life.
The story unfolds in 2014 -- as Anne, a lawyer at a large NYC law firm navigates the funeral of her father. Anne went to Yale and is the "success" of the family, compared to her older brother Charles, a self-admitted fuck-up who just got out of rehab. Interspersed between the "now," we also see Anne, Charles, and their parents in scenes from the past from the 80's and 90's. As Anne spends more time at home with her mother and Charles, she is forced to face the ghosts of her past, her complicity in derailing Charles' life, and exactly how she escaped her small-town life.
So many scenes from the novel resonated with me. As an immigrant growing up in the late 80's and 90's, some of my own life experiences parallel Anne's. Scenes of covering for friends who are not allowed to date, being responsible and "good" in the way prescribed by my parents, the feeling of loneliness and isolation, being self-sufficient and caring for siblings while our parents worked -- these all felt real and palpable.
When Anne is young, her parents tell her stories of how they were descended from kings. Anne asks why they don't move back to Korea.
Anne's mother and father immigrate to Canada for the ubiquitous desire for "better life" but is it truly better? Anne's father, a graduate of Seoul University, gave up his job to a friend before leaving Korea. In Canada, he struggles with jobs and with the language, ultimately buying a small business (with hefty loan) in the prairies of Canada. When the friend visits from Korea bearing gifts and stories of success thanking Anne's father for giving him the job, Anne's father reckons with his decision and the reality of their life in Canada, as owners of a failing grocery store dealing with racism, vandalism, and isolation.
Perhaps the most devastating, poignant part in the story is Charles' relationship with their father. Charles, who is a genius with computers and is ahead of his time, is not understood by his father. Their father's proclamation that "your life is not your own. It belongs to your family" --escalates the tension between father and son, and between Anne and Charles, affecting everyone in the family at a very high cost. As she spends more time with her brother, Anne ultimately comes to terms with her own complicity and passivity. Honestly, I'm still reeling -- #justiceforcharles.
There is a vault of pain in this story that I was not ready for. The author has done a great job in breathing life into each character, faults and all. Kudos to the author for crafting an intricate, intense family saga that truly resonates long after you've finished the story.
Thank you to Pegasus Books for the #gifted ARC.
The story unfolds in 2014 -- as Anne, a lawyer at a large NYC law firm navigates the funeral of her father. Anne went to Yale and is the "success" of the family, compared to her older brother Charles, a self-admitted fuck-up who just got out of rehab. Interspersed between the "now," we also see Anne, Charles, and their parents in scenes from the past from the 80's and 90's. As Anne spends more time at home with her mother and Charles, she is forced to face the ghosts of her past, her complicity in derailing Charles' life, and exactly how she escaped her small-town life.
So many scenes from the novel resonated with me. As an immigrant growing up in the late 80's and 90's, some of my own life experiences parallel Anne's. Scenes of covering for friends who are not allowed to date, being responsible and "good" in the way prescribed by my parents, the feeling of loneliness and isolation, being self-sufficient and caring for siblings while our parents worked -- these all felt real and palpable.
When Anne is young, her parents tell her stories of how they were descended from kings. Anne asks why they don't move back to Korea.
Anne's mother and father immigrate to Canada for the ubiquitous desire for "better life" but is it truly better? Anne's father, a graduate of Seoul University, gave up his job to a friend before leaving Korea. In Canada, he struggles with jobs and with the language, ultimately buying a small business (with hefty loan) in the prairies of Canada. When the friend visits from Korea bearing gifts and stories of success thanking Anne's father for giving him the job, Anne's father reckons with his decision and the reality of their life in Canada, as owners of a failing grocery store dealing with racism, vandalism, and isolation.
Perhaps the most devastating, poignant part in the story is Charles' relationship with their father. Charles, who is a genius with computers and is ahead of his time, is not understood by his father. Their father's proclamation that "your life is not your own. It belongs to your family" --escalates the tension between father and son, and between Anne and Charles, affecting everyone in the family at a very high cost. As she spends more time with her brother, Anne ultimately comes to terms with her own complicity and passivity. Honestly, I'm still reeling -- #justiceforcharles.
There is a vault of pain in this story that I was not ready for. The author has done a great job in breathing life into each character, faults and all. Kudos to the author for crafting an intricate, intense family saga that truly resonates long after you've finished the story.
Thank you to Pegasus Books for the #gifted ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thank you to Pegasus Books for the ARC!
Inheritance is a gripping exploration of family, sacrifice, intergenerational trauma, the immigrant experience, and memory. This novel follows Anne Kim is told between two timelines — the present day (2014-2015) in the wake of her father’s passing, and her childhood memories. The dual timeline makes for an engrossing read, beginning with how the family ends up and going back in time to discover the events that led up to them becoming how they were.
Growing up as one of the only Korean American and Asian immigrant families in Edmonton and a rural Canadian prairie town in the 1980s and 90s, Anne wanted nothing more than to fit in with her white peers. Her family navigates racism and discrimination on top of trying to make a living in Canada amidst everything they had to leave behind in Korea.
In 2014, Anne is a successful lawyer in New York, financially supporting her family. She has what looks like the perfect life, but she isn’t fulfilled or happy. After her father’s passing, she must grapple with some questions of the past and how the weight of her father’s expectations led her brother down one path and her down another.
As a character-driven reader, Anne wasn’t the most interesting protagonist to read as she was often very passive in her behavior, and we don’t get to look much into her thoughts and motivations for much of the novel. However, as the child of immigrants, I related to the ways Anne felt pressured to assimilate at the cost of erasing her own family’s culture and heritage, and the immense weight of Confucianism and filial piety. As we get more context into the lives and backstories of Anne’s family and what happened to them during her childhood, the pieces fall into place and the plot unfolds. I couldn’t help but sympathize and root for Anne, who navigates various challenges to the best of her ability and is finally able to start thinking about what she wants for herself as an adult.
Inheritance is a gripping exploration of family, sacrifice, intergenerational trauma, the immigrant experience, and memory. This novel follows Anne Kim is told between two timelines — the present day (2014-2015) in the wake of her father’s passing, and her childhood memories. The dual timeline makes for an engrossing read, beginning with how the family ends up and going back in time to discover the events that led up to them becoming how they were.
Growing up as one of the only Korean American and Asian immigrant families in Edmonton and a rural Canadian prairie town in the 1980s and 90s, Anne wanted nothing more than to fit in with her white peers. Her family navigates racism and discrimination on top of trying to make a living in Canada amidst everything they had to leave behind in Korea.
In 2014, Anne is a successful lawyer in New York, financially supporting her family. She has what looks like the perfect life, but she isn’t fulfilled or happy. After her father’s passing, she must grapple with some questions of the past and how the weight of her father’s expectations led her brother down one path and her down another.
As a character-driven reader, Anne wasn’t the most interesting protagonist to read as she was often very passive in her behavior, and we don’t get to look much into her thoughts and motivations for much of the novel. However, as the child of immigrants, I related to the ways Anne felt pressured to assimilate at the cost of erasing her own family’s culture and heritage, and the immense weight of Confucianism and filial piety. As we get more context into the lives and backstories of Anne’s family and what happened to them during her childhood, the pieces fall into place and the plot unfolds. I couldn’t help but sympathize and root for Anne, who navigates various challenges to the best of her ability and is finally able to start thinking about what she wants for herself as an adult.
September 11, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
This book was great. It wasn't quite what I expected, as I expected more about the inheritance from her parents, especially her father and his North korean family, and the focus instead was on what she inherited from her parents, and what she and her brother will leave for the next generation, with focus very much on their lives in Canada and barely any talk about Korea. Still, despite this not being quite what I expected, it was very interesting and great to read, as it also introduced a perspective that I might not otherwise have sought out. It was very emotional, and the more the story progressed, the more complicated feelings you get also as a reader, and what seemed pretty black and white in the beginning, especially in the relationship between the siblings, becomes a lot more muddled later on and allows for a lot of room for self-reflection and ponderings about society more generally, that isn't quite as obvious in the beginning. Hearing about Charles and what actually happened, and how it affected the rest of his life (even though this was never clearly stated and is on you to consider, to decide how much room you want to give his race and the racism he faced in explaining his later failures - which is really interesting because 3 readers would probably have 3 different answers here), it was... really well done, as it's not obvious or preachy, but still triggering you to really think about things. Same for Anne, her success and everything she earned, her attitude in her youth... There's a lot here, and it's a really great novel.
This book was great. It wasn't quite what I expected, as I expected more about the inheritance from her parents, especially her father and his North korean family, and the focus instead was on what she inherited from her parents, and what she and her brother will leave for the next generation, with focus very much on their lives in Canada and barely any talk about Korea. Still, despite this not being quite what I expected, it was very interesting and great to read, as it also introduced a perspective that I might not otherwise have sought out. It was very emotional, and the more the story progressed, the more complicated feelings you get also as a reader, and what seemed pretty black and white in the beginning, especially in the relationship between the siblings, becomes a lot more muddled later on and allows for a lot of room for self-reflection and ponderings about society more generally, that isn't quite as obvious in the beginning. Hearing about Charles and what actually happened, and how it affected the rest of his life (even though this was never clearly stated and is on you to consider, to decide how much room you want to give his race and the racism he faced in explaining his later failures - which is really interesting because 3 readers would probably have 3 different answers here), it was... really well done, as it's not obvious or preachy, but still triggering you to really think about things. Same for Anne, her success and everything she earned, her attitude in her youth... There's a lot here, and it's a really great novel.
Read
October 5, 2026Growing up as the daughter of Korean immigrants in Crow Plains, Alberta, in the 1990s was difficult for Anne. Decades later she’s a successful lawyer in New York City. She sees her parents only when they travel from their new home in Edmonton to visit, and she seldom sees her alcoholic older brother. But when her father dies, Anne returns to Alberta to help her mother settle his affairs. While there she discovers a part of her father’s past she never knew—he was originally from North Korea and left his brother behind, never knowing what became of him. She finds letters her father wrote during her childhood to this unknown uncle and must reckon with her past and the secrets her dad was hiding.
Inheritance paints a moving and authentic picture of the immigrant experience in small-town Alberta, where young Anne’s parents own a grocery store. We see flashbacks of Anne’s attempts to fit in by repressing her Korean identity. She stops eating foods such as kimchi, convinced classmates will smell it on her, and envies a white friend’s family, whom she sees as a perfect representation of normality. She shuns the only other Asian girl in town, the Chinese restaurant owner’s daughter, who attempts to befriend her. Anne worries that if she hangs out with her, it will draw more attention to her Asianness.
Review by Jillian Bell
Full review at https://albertaviews.ca/inheritance/
Inheritance paints a moving and authentic picture of the immigrant experience in small-town Alberta, where young Anne’s parents own a grocery store. We see flashbacks of Anne’s attempts to fit in by repressing her Korean identity. She stops eating foods such as kimchi, convinced classmates will smell it on her, and envies a white friend’s family, whom she sees as a perfect representation of normality. She shuns the only other Asian girl in town, the Chinese restaurant owner’s daughter, who attempts to befriend her. Anne worries that if she hangs out with her, it will draw more attention to her Asianness.
Review by Jillian Bell
Full review at https://albertaviews.ca/inheritance/
March 29, 2026
Thank you to Colored Pages Book Tours and Pegasus Books for the gifted copy.
Wow, what a debut novel from Jane Park. A nuanced, character driven story exploring a Korean family’s experience in the early 90s after immigrating to a Canadian prairie town. Exploring how trauma transfers generation to generation and the challenges immigrant families face - showcasing both the sacrifices made by parents and sacrifices made by their children.
I was moved by this story that felt like I was reading a memoir. The author shared that although this work was entirely fictional, many of the racists scenes come from her lived experiences.
A beautifully told story. I was engrossed throughout with the plot alluding to a catastrophic event that changes the trajectory of the family’s lives. Told in alternating timelines with the story flashing back to the 90s and the main character’s childhood.
I highly recommend if you are a fan of historical fictions or memoirs. And I encourage that even if those genres are not your favorites, to pick this story up and get curious about the lived experiences different from your own.
Wow, what a debut novel from Jane Park. A nuanced, character driven story exploring a Korean family’s experience in the early 90s after immigrating to a Canadian prairie town. Exploring how trauma transfers generation to generation and the challenges immigrant families face - showcasing both the sacrifices made by parents and sacrifices made by their children.
I was moved by this story that felt like I was reading a memoir. The author shared that although this work was entirely fictional, many of the racists scenes come from her lived experiences.
A beautifully told story. I was engrossed throughout with the plot alluding to a catastrophic event that changes the trajectory of the family’s lives. Told in alternating timelines with the story flashing back to the 90s and the main character’s childhood.
I highly recommend if you are a fan of historical fictions or memoirs. And I encourage that even if those genres are not your favorites, to pick this story up and get curious about the lived experiences different from your own.
April 28, 2026
Thank you so much House of Anansi for sending me a copy of this book!!
This was utterly amazing I have no words....
I can't believe this is is Jane's debut, this whole story pulled at my heart strings. This is a story about the immigrant experience from the point of view of children immigrant. We go back and forth between past and present and see how the pressures of duty and expectations shaped both Anne and Charles lives.
Anne and Charles parents have immigrated to Canada from Korea to give their children a better life. You see the expectations put on both siblings by their parents and the emotional and mental toll that takes on both of them throughout their lives. You see both brother and sister struggle to fit in with their community and meet their parents expectations while their parents are struggling to support their family and adapt to life in Canada.
I think this is such an amazing story that deals with complex family dynamics, the immigrant experience and self acceptance. I urge EVERYONE to read this book, it is such a fantastic story and I cannot wait to see what other stories Jane writes!!!
This was utterly amazing I have no words....
I can't believe this is is Jane's debut, this whole story pulled at my heart strings. This is a story about the immigrant experience from the point of view of children immigrant. We go back and forth between past and present and see how the pressures of duty and expectations shaped both Anne and Charles lives.
Anne and Charles parents have immigrated to Canada from Korea to give their children a better life. You see the expectations put on both siblings by their parents and the emotional and mental toll that takes on both of them throughout their lives. You see both brother and sister struggle to fit in with their community and meet their parents expectations while their parents are struggling to support their family and adapt to life in Canada.
I think this is such an amazing story that deals with complex family dynamics, the immigrant experience and self acceptance. I urge EVERYONE to read this book, it is such a fantastic story and I cannot wait to see what other stories Jane writes!!!
May 27, 2026
Anne Kim is a Korean American lawyer that is returning to her small hometown in Canada after the death of her father. While sorting through his paperwork she finds undelivered letters from her father to an uncle who stayed behind in North Korea.
Reading the letters, Anne is transported back to her past, growing up in the 1980’s, the childhood trauma, the weight of her father’s expectations to excel that her older brother Charles rebelled against, causing Anne to try to fill the gap expected from her father, and the one devastating act that caused a huge divide within the family, and the aftermath that destroyed them all.
This beautiful debut novel was impossible to put down, and I finished it in one day. It’s the story of the challenges faced by Asian immigrant children growing up in the West, the Asian versus Western culture, coming of age, the sacrifices made by parents and children, and how trauma affects the next generation, and finally finding your own way. Anne was such a wonderful character, I loved her mom so much, and my heart just broke for her and her older brother. This was a fascinating look at Korean culture, and immigrants and the challenges they face.
Reading the letters, Anne is transported back to her past, growing up in the 1980’s, the childhood trauma, the weight of her father’s expectations to excel that her older brother Charles rebelled against, causing Anne to try to fill the gap expected from her father, and the one devastating act that caused a huge divide within the family, and the aftermath that destroyed them all.
This beautiful debut novel was impossible to put down, and I finished it in one day. It’s the story of the challenges faced by Asian immigrant children growing up in the West, the Asian versus Western culture, coming of age, the sacrifices made by parents and children, and how trauma affects the next generation, and finally finding your own way. Anne was such a wonderful character, I loved her mom so much, and my heart just broke for her and her older brother. This was a fascinating look at Korean culture, and immigrants and the challenges they face.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Anne, a Korean Canadian NYC lawyer, comes home to the prairies after her father’s death. As she reads old letters her father sent his brother, left in North Korea, it brings up past trauma and devastation from her childhood.
An amazing story, it’s hard to believe it’s a debut! The writing is well done and very easy to follow. It will make you feel a lot, especially at the end as you understand the Kim’s full family history. It’s a genuine look at the immigrant experience, and trying to fit in with a new culture. It truly portrayed the feeling of “otherness” and the tug and pull of the young second generation with the old and new. I loved the past chapters as we see Anne trying to fit in. While Anne is the main character, a lot of the plot revolves around the father and son relationship and the devastation that can occur through a lack of connection or cultural differences.
“Sometimes you need to process the bad in order to get to the good.”
Read if you like:
-Immigration experience
-Generational trauma
-Sibling relationships
-Coming home stories
Inheritance comes out 4/7.
An amazing story, it’s hard to believe it’s a debut! The writing is well done and very easy to follow. It will make you feel a lot, especially at the end as you understand the Kim’s full family history. It’s a genuine look at the immigrant experience, and trying to fit in with a new culture. It truly portrayed the feeling of “otherness” and the tug and pull of the young second generation with the old and new. I loved the past chapters as we see Anne trying to fit in. While Anne is the main character, a lot of the plot revolves around the father and son relationship and the devastation that can occur through a lack of connection or cultural differences.
“Sometimes you need to process the bad in order to get to the good.”
Read if you like:
-Immigration experience
-Generational trauma
-Sibling relationships
-Coming home stories
Inheritance comes out 4/7.
April 28, 2026
There are many excellent reviews of Inheritance. I do hope that Jane Park will continue to write as she has the potential to be an important writer. Her ability to describe and explore the Korean immigrant story appears very real. As other reviewers have noted, at times the book seems to be a memoir. There are so many themes that book groups could discuss—poverty, stress of moving into a new country and culture, trying to raise a family in a very different world, loss of connections, unresolved problems, legal challenges, struggles of learning English, racism, generation gaps and hope. Jane Park covers so much in her book. This is definitely a book worth recommending to others. Hopefully, I will get to hear Jane Park at Wordfest or another literary event in Calgary.
Congratulations. Hopefully, the next book won’t take 10 years—though I appreciate how much work it takes to put a story together that is embedded within one’s own culture and (perhaps) the circumstances of family or friends.
Congratulations. Hopefully, the next book won’t take 10 years—though I appreciate how much work it takes to put a story together that is embedded within one’s own culture and (perhaps) the circumstances of family or friends.
Read
June 17, 2026(thank you to the publisher for my copy of this book!)
Inheritance almost reads like a memoir, though it’s author Jane Park’s debut novel. The story follows Anne Kim, a New York City lawyer who returns to her small Canadian town after the death of her father. She’s tried to put her childhood immigrant experience and family trauma in the past, but is forced to confront it upon her return home. What follows is a story about immigrant sacrifice, impossible expectations, and the kind of guilt and resentment that can fester amongst family members.
Like I said, if you told me this was a memoir, I would have believed you. The emotional details are so specific and the Korean family dynamics are so complicated and real that I truly kept forgetting it was fiction. Park writes with the kind of clarity that you can tell comes from deeply understanding her characters.
I will definitely be anxiously waiting to see what’s next from Jane Park and recommend it to anyone who loves quiet, character-driven stories about family secrets and the immigrant experience.
Inheritance almost reads like a memoir, though it’s author Jane Park’s debut novel. The story follows Anne Kim, a New York City lawyer who returns to her small Canadian town after the death of her father. She’s tried to put her childhood immigrant experience and family trauma in the past, but is forced to confront it upon her return home. What follows is a story about immigrant sacrifice, impossible expectations, and the kind of guilt and resentment that can fester amongst family members.
Like I said, if you told me this was a memoir, I would have believed you. The emotional details are so specific and the Korean family dynamics are so complicated and real that I truly kept forgetting it was fiction. Park writes with the kind of clarity that you can tell comes from deeply understanding her characters.
I will definitely be anxiously waiting to see what’s next from Jane Park and recommend it to anyone who loves quiet, character-driven stories about family secrets and the immigrant experience.
Review of advance copy received from Author
What a phenomenally written debut novel!! It follows a Korean family and their life journey and struggles as they migrate to Canada to raise their children, jumping back and forth between the past and the present.
The way I could not get it out of my head. It made me feel a whole TON of different emotions. I became very invested in the characters and to be honest certain parts wrecked me just a bit because of that…but to me that is what makes it such a good book. Being able to feel so connected to the plot and the characters and being able to feel emotion right along side them. To feel pain when they hurt and to cheer them on in their comebacks. To close the book and wish it wasn’t over.
I also am huge on learning about different cultures as well as their traditions, and love when a book can teach you a little of that inside a story!
I absolutely adored the authors writing style, and I certainly will be excited for future work.
The way I could not get it out of my head. It made me feel a whole TON of different emotions. I became very invested in the characters and to be honest certain parts wrecked me just a bit because of that…but to me that is what makes it such a good book. Being able to feel so connected to the plot and the characters and being able to feel emotion right along side them. To feel pain when they hurt and to cheer them on in their comebacks. To close the book and wish it wasn’t over.
I also am huge on learning about different cultures as well as their traditions, and love when a book can teach you a little of that inside a story!
I absolutely adored the authors writing style, and I certainly will be excited for future work.
April 20, 2026
This debut novel by @sweet_baby_jane and out now from @houseofanansi knocked my socks off! Excellent novel, layered in so many issues, but most of all immigration and family. Anne Kim is now a successful lawyer in New York, but she doesn't like to go back home to Alberta very often, and she certainly doesn't want to talk about her past. Deeply moving and centered around Anne and her brother, Charles, and their parents, who immigrated to Canada from Korea. I love a book about complicated family relationships, especially brother and sister ones and family obligations. There is so much to relate to in that sense, but also so much to learn about immigration and difficult journeys and family trauma. In today's world I think reading different viewpoints and cultivating empathy is super important and this book does an amazing job at that. Looking at racism in small town Canada is not easy, but it is important. An excellent read!
May 6, 2026
Inheritance by Jane Park
Fiction, trauma fiction (check the content warning if you are sensitive mainly of childhood trauma)
The book centers Anne, who returns to her home town in Canada for her father's funeral. She has become a successful attorney in New York, but she has grown up in a small town where her family, immigrated from Korea, struggled to fit in when she was growing up. The book is very well written and I felt I learned a lot about her experiences, like listening to someone's true stories. It's believable and painful. I think this would make a good book for AAPI month book clubs. There are also not too many books I think that is located in a small Canadian town, which I appreciated.
To me personally, the almost entire book felt downtrodden, a very long song in a minor note. Without some rays of light, the entire thing is very gloomy. There are some violence and threat of violence, which I didn't enjoy.
Audiobook is well narrated.
Fiction, trauma fiction (check the content warning if you are sensitive mainly of childhood trauma)
The book centers Anne, who returns to her home town in Canada for her father's funeral. She has become a successful attorney in New York, but she has grown up in a small town where her family, immigrated from Korea, struggled to fit in when she was growing up. The book is very well written and I felt I learned a lot about her experiences, like listening to someone's true stories. It's believable and painful. I think this would make a good book for AAPI month book clubs. There are also not too many books I think that is located in a small Canadian town, which I appreciated.
To me personally, the almost entire book felt downtrodden, a very long song in a minor note. Without some rays of light, the entire thing is very gloomy. There are some violence and threat of violence, which I didn't enjoy.
Audiobook is well narrated.
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