Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

In July, 토지Toji will explore the experience of Zainichi reading Pachinko by Korean-American author Min Jin Lee. Lee’s saga exposes the sacrifices Korean immigrants made to forge a better life for the next generation.
In the small Korean village of Yeongdo, an ageing couple begins taking in lodgers for extra money. When Korea is occupied by Japan in 1910, much of the country becomes impoverished, but the couple still manages to establish a successful boardinghouse. Their son, Hoonie, who has a cleft palate and twisted foot, even makes a successful and happy marriage to a woman named Yangjin. However, Hoonie dies of tuberculosis when his beloved daughter Sunja is only 13. At age 17, Sunja becomes pregnant—months earlier, she’d fallen in love with Hansu, a wealthy fish broker who refuses to marry her, explaining that he already has a wife and children in Japan. Hansu offers to support Sunja financially and be with her when he’s in town on business, but Sunja refuses to be his mistress, even though she’ll be disgraced in the eyes of society as an unwed mother.
🎨 The image contains the illustrations of Patrick Léger (for the novel's UK cover) & Oh Myeong-min's cover detail for the Korean edition.