Pachinko

Pachinko, written by Min Jin Lee (Free Food for Millionaires) and published in 2017, is the story of five generations of a Korean family living in both Korea and then later Japan from 1910 to 1989. Pachinko was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction in 2017. In Book 1, “Gohyang/Hometown 1910-1933,” the opening setting is the village of Yeongdo, Korea. The reader is introduced to the first generation of the family, the mother and father of Hoonie. They are a hardworking couple and teach Hoonie their values of hard work. They love Hoonie greatly, but they also know not to spoil him. They are full of joy when he is able to find a wife, Yangjin, despite his physical impairments. Hoonie and Yangjin have one daughter, Sunja. She is much loved by her parents. When Hoonie dies of tuberculosis, they grieve him deeply.

When Sunja is seduced by a local businessman, Koh Hansu, and becomes pregnant, her mother doesn’t know what to do until one of her boarders, Baek Isak, a Presbyterian minister traveling to Japan, offers to marry Sunja.