This book was a roller coaster of emotion and actually had a good little "mystery" build up.
Margot has always been somewhat embarrassed of her immigrant mother, Mina Lee. Margot, who was born in America, feels more savvy Mina Lee. In Margot's eyes, Mina has never tried to achieve more or tried to make her life better in any way. Mina has bought shame to Margot by not speaking English, gotten a better job or tried to get out of her dingy apartment, the same apartment she's still in, much to Margot's chagrin. And to top everything else off, Margot does not know who her father is. Mina refuses to tell her. So, Margot was thrilled to finally become of age when she can leave home and put distance between her and her mother.
One day, when accompanying her friend on a move to the city where Mina still lives, Margot decides to visit. Usually the visits are on holidays only. They don't see each other often and barely talk on the phone. Margot is in shock when she finds her mother dead in her apartment. It appears to be a fall, but things aren't always what they seem.
I am not going to give too much away, but I think we ALL forget our parents had different lives, dreams and desires before we came on the scene. This is just one lesson that Margot learns about Mina when starting to dig into her life. Because they were never close, Margot finds there's actually a lot to learn about her mother, and unfortunately hard lessons about regret. The story then starts going back and forth between Mina's story and present day.
I really enjoyed this book and was thankful to the publisher for the opportunity. The only thing that lost points for me was the several thinly veiled semi political, semi social comments as if the author was trying to force certain stances in, probably her own opinions.
Otherwise, I am glad I got to read this story. I love reading about other cultures and I think the author was informative in this area. Thank you to the publisher. I think this book will do well. Released September 1, 2020.
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Author Bio:
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.
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