The Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia KimMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Parallel Lives of Two Sisters
A page turner as two young girls grow from toddler to college graduates. One in Korea, the other in America--the cultures so different and yet periods of their lives--grade school, middle school --so similar in ways. Dealing with the personal adjustments to forming friendships, discovering boys, girlish competitions, differing relationships with parental figures, music, dancing, clothing styles. But the differences, too--multigenerational home in Korea, only child in America. Poverty in Korea, overabundance in America. The strength of tradition and culture in Korea, the loss of even language in America. The author alternates chapters --first in Korea, the next in the States.
She uses not only political and world events to chart time, but also pop culture--Elvis, Almaden wine (do they still make that?), the mashed potato and the twist, Dick Clark's TV show.
Although the differences between the two countries and the political situation in Korea are clearly expressed in the earlier chapters, it is not until Inja, at 15, is finally able to come to the States and reunite with parents she knows only through photographs and letters, that the reality of the situation becomes clear.
Miran, the girl raised in the US doesn't even speak Korean, She has difficulty with her Oriental appearance but American upbringing that leaves her feeling somehow a person who doesn't know who she is, Inja, in the meantime, is overwhelmed by the luxuriousness into which she finds herself and by the grief she feels at leaving the only family and home she has ever known.
How the two grow close and how they begin to understand themselves and their shared family history is the strongest part of the book and yet it could not have its impact without having their lives before detailed.
This is a review of an ARC provided by BookBrowse for review
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