The Last Story of Mina Lee - Book Review

 

 The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

Publication date September 1, 2020

 Margot comes to LA with a friend and is concerned when she can not reach her mother, Mina. When she finally arrives, she finds her mother has died. This leaves Margot with feelings of regret, anger, remorse, and curiosity. When she starts talking with her Mina’s friends, she finds out that her mother had many secrets and a life Margot knew nothing about.

Now this is where the story gets interesting! We, the reader get an insight into both Margot and Mina’s stories from their own points of view. Mina takes us back to when she first came to America and her journey up until her death. The insights into the Korean culture, the language barriers and immigration issues were fascinating. Margot is trying to come to terms with her mother’s death, her own sense of belonging and her memories of childhood. A griping tale of two fascinating women who are family yet knew so little about one another.

The author Nancy Jooyoun Kim did a brilliant job of weaving both women’s stories into one riveting novel. I enjoyed the depth and loved gaining insight into what immigrant’s face coming to a new country. Thank you so much to the Nancy Jooyoun Kim, Park Row Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to review. It was fabulous!

 

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nancy Jooyoun Kim is a graduate of UCLA and the MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Guernica, The Rumpus, Electric Literature, Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s The Margins, The Offing, the blogs of Prairie Schooner and Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. Her essay, “Love (or Live Cargo),” was performed for NPR/PRI’s Selected Shorts in 2017 with stories by Viet Thanh Nguyen, Phil Klay, and Etgar Keret. THE LAST STORY OF MINA LEE is her first novel.

 Author Website

Twitter: @njooyounkim

Instagram: @njooyounkim

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Thank you so much for stopping by the farmhouse. Lynn 

 

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