Suspecting foul play in the wake of her mother’s accidental death, Margot Lee investigates her mother’s past as a Korean War orphan and undocumented immigrant before uncovering profound secrets. A first novel. 50,000 first printing. - (Baker & Taylor)

Suspecting foul play in the wake of her mother's accidental death, Margot Lee investigates her mother's past as a Korean War orphan and undocumented immigrant before uncovering profound secrets. - (Baker & Taylor)

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Riveting and unconventional, The Last Story of Mina Lee traces the far-reaching consequences of secrets in the lives of a Korean immigrant mother and her daughter

Margot Lee's mother is ignoring her calls. Margot can’t understand why, until she makes a surprise trip home to Koreatown, LA, and finds that her mother has suspiciously died. Determined to discover the truth, Margot unravels her single mother’s past as a Korean War orphan and an undocumented immigrant, only to realize how little she truly knew about her mother, Mina.

Thirty years earlier, Mina Lee steps off a plane to take a chance on a new life in America. Stacking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing she expects is to fall in love. But that moment leads to repercussions for Mina that echo through the decades, leading up to the truth of what happened the night of her death.

Told through the intimate lens of a mother and daughter who have struggled all their lives to understand each other, The Last Story of Mina Lee is a powerful and exquisitely woven debut novel that explores identity, family, secrets, and what it truly means to belong.

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“Painful, joyous... A story that cries out to be told.” —Los Angeles Times

“Kim is a brilliant new voice in American fiction.” —Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

“Suspenseful and deeply felt.” —Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists - (Harlequin)

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* In Kim's haunting and heartbreaking debut, troubled threads between a mother and daughter blend together in a delicate and rich weave. In autumn, 2014, 26-year-old Margot Lee has been unable to reach her mother, Mina, who lives in L.A.'s Koreatown. With her best friend Miguel, Margot drives down from Seattle only to find Mina dead on the floor of her tiny apartment. A police investigation finds Mina's death to be an accident, but Margot is suspicious. As she goes through Mina's belongings, Margot discovers a mother she barely knew. Mina rarely spoke of her past, but as a child, she fled from North Korea during the Korean War before being permanently separated from her parents and growing up in an orphanage. Now, Margot learns that Mina lost a husband and daughter in an accident in 1986 before fleeing to the U.S. She began her American dream, which, as an undocumented immigrant and single mother, becomes tragic. Kim fluidly moves the story from 1987 to 2014 as readers learn Mina's backstory. With both sadness and beauty, she describes grief, regret, loss, and the feeling of being left behind. Fans of Amy Tan and Kristin Hannah will love Kim's brilliant debut. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.

Publishers Weekly Reviews

In Kim's uneven debut, an unexpected death highlights both the rifts and the bonds in a mother-daughter relationship. Margot Lee, 26, figures she'll stop in for an overdue visit with her mother, Mina, while she's in Los Angeles helping a coworker relocate from Seattle. At the house, she finds her mother dead. The death was ruled accidental, but the circumstances gradually appear more suspicious as Margot uncovers Mina's mementos and learns about her mother's secrets, both long-buried and more recent. Margot's investigations alternate with (and in some cases, awkwardly parallel) the story of Mina's 1987 arrival in Los Angeles's Koreatown, having fled Korea in the wake of a personal tragedy. Mina's immigration story poignantly mingles optimism with the heartbreak of exploitation. The more contemporary portions of the narrative, however, lack both emotional pull and narrative conviction. Margot's characterization feels flat, and her supposed artistic aspirations lack any sort of passion or urgency. Most problematic, however, is the mystery plot, which hinges not only on a series of fairly implausible coincidences but also on some unconvincing police work. As a personal immigration narrative Kim's novel largely succeeds, but as a mystery novel or a mother-daughter drama it fails to connect. (Sept.)