An imaginative work that draws upon traditional Korean Buddhist beliefs about the afterlife to explore the long-term consequences of decisions made under the value system of a different era.
Han delivers a satisfying tale with vivid relationships that will keep readers curious about this complex family shaped by war, loyalty, class-consciousness, and love.
The sentences are short, simple, and prosaic, the sentiments immature. The novel relies too much on the uniqueness of the narrator’s identity as an elderly Korean woman without doing the work to make her convincing. One wishes that the plot could be the novel’s saving grace, but this is not the case.
