And once the family returns to its homeland, the daughters unearth difficult truths about their parents' pasts, as Chung indelibly portrays a Korea viciously divided but ever bound to history, myth, and hope. Weaving Korean folklore with a modern narrative of immigration and identity, Forgotten Country is a gripping story of a family struggling to find its way out of. When those beliefs are tested in the wake of their father's terminal diagnosis, so, too, are the girls' rigidly defined family roles. Hannah's older sister, Janie, a graduate student in mathematics, sees things more simply: Hannah is just an ingrate, disrespectful of family and centuries-old beliefs. Forgotten Country By Catherine Chung 304 pages Riverhead Hardcover Available at: Barnes & Noble IndieBound When a family member goes missing, relatives naturally get worried. According to the elaborate ancestral folklore that Catherine Chung weaves throughout her novel Forgotten Country (Riverhead), college-age daughter Hannah's defection to California is in keeping with an ancient curse-that one daughter per generation must go missing. But for one Korean-born clan living in suburban Michigan, such an event is understood as an insult to the sacred cultural tradition of family togetherness. Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung - Reading Guide: 9781594486524 - : Books A Booklist Top 10 First Novels of 2012 pick A Bookpage Best Books of 2012 pick A richly emotional portrait of a family that had me spellbound. When a family member goes missing, relatives naturally get worried.
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