Inheritance
Published on 21. May 2026
Book
Hardback
320 pages
979-8-89710-068-2 (ISBN)
Description
A young woman returns to the prairies, where she revisits her immigrant childhood and confronts a haunting guilt, in this debut novel by a brilliant new talent.
Bustle's "Ten Best New Books of the Month"
The Million's "Great Spring Books"
Parade's "Six Books Releasing this Weekly You Can't Afford to Sleep On"
Ms. Magazine's "Best New Feminist Books"
Anne Kim is a lawyer in New York, her success built on forgetting the past. When her father dies, she returns to Edmonton for the funeral and is shocked to discover he was from North Korea and left his brother behind.
As she reads the undelivered letters her father wrote to his brother about life in Canada, she is transported back to her childhood in the 1980s and 90s. She recalls the struggles her parents faced as immigrants who ran a grocery store in a rural prairie town. Anne and her brother, Charles, felt the weight of their father's expectations: Anne was driven to excel and overachieve, whereas Charles rebelled, determined to pursue his own dreams. His rebellion created a rift that culminated in a devastating act, irrevocably shattering their family and leaving Anne overwhelmed by an inescapable guilt.
Inheritance explores the immigrant experience, the sacrifices made by both parents and children, and how trauma transfers to the next generation. As Anne journeys to the past, she emerges to finally define life on her own terms, and her story will resonate long after the final page.
Bustle's "Ten Best New Books of the Month"
The Million's "Great Spring Books"
Parade's "Six Books Releasing this Weekly You Can't Afford to Sleep On"
Ms. Magazine's "Best New Feminist Books"
Anne Kim is a lawyer in New York, her success built on forgetting the past. When her father dies, she returns to Edmonton for the funeral and is shocked to discover he was from North Korea and left his brother behind.
As she reads the undelivered letters her father wrote to his brother about life in Canada, she is transported back to her childhood in the 1980s and 90s. She recalls the struggles her parents faced as immigrants who ran a grocery store in a rural prairie town. Anne and her brother, Charles, felt the weight of their father's expectations: Anne was driven to excel and overachieve, whereas Charles rebelled, determined to pursue his own dreams. His rebellion created a rift that culminated in a devastating act, irrevocably shattering their family and leaving Anne overwhelmed by an inescapable guilt.
Inheritance explores the immigrant experience, the sacrifices made by both parents and children, and how trauma transfers to the next generation. As Anne journeys to the past, she emerges to finally define life on her own terms, and her story will resonate long after the final page.
Reviews / Votes
"Park has an expansive understanding of acculturation. The novel abounds with such quandaries, without offering easy solutions." -- <B> Literary Review of Canada</B> "Park's ambitious debut underscores how isolation can shape the immigrant experience-not only through the weight of inherited trauma, but through the absence of one's own ethnic community in rural towns. By situating her Korean Canadian family far from the country's multicultural centres, she broadens the literary map and reminds us that immigrant stories unfold just as powerfully, and often more precariously, in the quietest corners of North America." -- <I><B>Asian Review of Books</B></I> "An affecting story of honor, tradition, and expectations sometimes buoying - but nearly burying - one immigrant family." -- <B>Erin Douglass, <I>Christian Science Monitor</I></B> "Sometimes, you need a story that is human and raw, and that's exactly what Inheritance by Jane Park offers. This story brings one of sacrifice. It tells the tale of the immigrant life, which includes the real trauma that is experienced in the upbringing. When you want to understand more of what that upbringing is like, Inheritance is a must." -- <B>Parade</B> "Second-generation Korean Canadian Jane Park's gorgeous debut novel, Inheritance, achingly encapsulates an immigrant family coming to terms with their closest, yet least empathic, relationships: with each other." -- <B><I>Shelf Awareness,</I> starred review</B> "Park's debut recounts the home life, struggles, and history of a shopkeeping Korean family that immigrates to a rural town in Alberta, Canada, making it an interesting juxtaposition to the many U.S.-set immigrant stories. Readers seeking stories about the intergenerational impacts of the Korean War and the challenges Korean immigrants faced will find Park's novel satisfying, with its strong pacing and plotting and well-developed characters." -- <I><B>Library Journal</B></I> "Sparsely written and deeply affecting, Inheritance lingers long after the final page-a quiet, devastating meditation on guilt, parental expectations, and the lasting consequences of generational silence. As a Canadian child of immigrants, I know this book will stay with me for a long time." -- <b>Rachel Phan, author of<i> Restaurant Kid</i></b><BR> <BR> "I enjoyed this book a lot. It's about a Korean family growing up in rural Alberta in the '90s. It made me laugh and I also got choked up a few times. Jane Park has written a well-crafted, nuanced story about a family aching to present well, expressing love through duty and atoning for past sins. Inheritance is a must-read for all children of immigrants, doubly so if you're Korean in North America." -- <B>Ins Choi, playwright of Kim's Convenience</B> "A beautiful debut. A wide-ranging meditation on the Korean immigrant experience that explores family, ambition, longing and belonging." -- <b>Suji Kwock Kim, recipient of the Walt Whitman Award for Notes from the Divided Country</b> "In an unforgettable debut novel, Jane Park has crafted a finely wrought family drama about the ties that bind and the horrific cost when one commits an unspeakable act. While set in the desolate plains and bustling cities of Canada, the indelible echoes of a Korea ripped apart by war and families forever torn haunt this novel. The Korean word Jeong can mean 'the ties that bind' and implies that sacrifices are required to be part of a family. But this untranslatable word also speaks to connection, the love that exists in families, the warmth and joy we foster and receive. The Kim family at the heart of Inheritance loses their homeland in more ways than one, endures harsh conditions in their adopted country, becomes unraveled by violence. And yet, they forge new bonds and weave themselves back together stronger, more resilient. With her beautifully written novel, Park reminds us that hope is precious, redemption is possible, and forgiveness is always within reach." -- <B>Helena Rho, author of<I> Stone Angels</I></B>More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 232 mm
Width: 148 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-89710-068-2 (9798897100682)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jane Park is a second-generation Korean Canadian writer. She is a MacDowell Fellow, and was a participant in the Banff Centre's Writing Studio, and Diaspora Dialogues. She was born in Edmonton, Alberta, lived in New York City for over a decade, and now lives in Calgary, Alberta. Currently, she is pursuing an MFA at the University of British Columbia. Inheritance is her debut novel.