The Kinship of Secrets

June 15, 2018

In 1948, Najin and Calvin Cho leave South Korea for the greener fields of America, taking young daughter Miran but deciding to leave behind older daughter Inja until they are established. Then war breaks out. From the award-winning author of The Calligrapher's Daughter; with a 40,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2018
Two sisters, estranged by circumstance, seek to forge a bond and understand their individual and shared histories.Inja and Miran are near twins. Remarkably close in age, both are artistic and sensitive. But when the novel opens, in 1950, the two girls live on separate continents: When Miran's parents left South Korea for the United States, they were only able to travel with one child. They chose Miran, who had been in poor health as an infant, and left Inja behind with her maternal grandparents, aunt and uncle. Though the family had planned to return for Inja, North Korean troops invade South Korea and war breaks out. Inja and her relatives are displaced to Busan, enduring hunger, cold, and constant instability; in America, Miran struggles to understand her parents' anxiety and helplessness as they wait for news. The novel stretches from the early 1950s through the mid-'70s, alternating between Inja's adolescence in a divided Korea and Miran's coming-of-age in a differently tumultuous USA. Based loosely on Kim's (The Calligrapher's Daughter, 2009) own family history, as detailed in the author's note, this elegant though frequently sentimental novel relies on the power of family secrets to propel the reader through the sisters' lives. Inja, contemplating all she does not know of her American family--and vice versa--notes "the strange kind of power one gained from holding secrets." Will Inja ever know the sister who is practically her twin? Will either sister ever truly understand Korea or America, or will they continue to exist in the space between?Though the novel is quiet and occasionally dense with historical exposition, it offers a valuable window into Korean history as well as to issues like immigration and assimilation that couldn't be more relevant today.

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September 17, 2018
The lives of two sisters growing up on opposite sides of the world—one in war-torn Korea, the other in America—come to life in this finely wrought novel from Kim (The Calligrapher’s Daughter), inspired by her family’s experiences. In 1948, Najin and Calvin Cho leave Korea for America in search of a better life, taking firstborn Miran with them, but leaving their infant daughter, Inja, behind with Najin’s parents, brother, and sister-in-law. The Chos intend to return for Inja when she is older and better able to travel. But the Korean War breaks out, foiling their plans. The Chos send care packages to their family, but that doesn’t assuage their anguish at being separated. Told from each sister’s viewpoint, readers learn about their vastly different upbringings—Inja’s frightening experiences leaving her war-torn home to flee to a safer part of Korea while Marin grew up with the threat of war but in relative luxury. Yet this is also a family with deep secrets, between parents and children and between siblings, and the way these secrets impact the characters when they are finally united reflects Kim’s sharp insight into relationships. This is a stirring novel about family and the sacrifices made to keep it whole.