Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

 

Published: 2017, grand central publishing

Genre: Fiction

Themes: Korea, japan, family, endurance, corruption

My rating (out of 5): ❤❤❤❤❤

I'll be honest, it was the cover that drew me to this book in the first place, but even though I know you mustn't judge a book by its cover, it turned out to be a very good choice.

The book is about four generations of a Korean family who become exiled in Japan and begins just after the second world war.  We meet the main character, Sunja, as a young woman living in South Korea, and the story takes us through her life as she becomes a wife and mother and eventually a grandmother. Sunja's father was a disabled man who had overcome his physical difficulties to become the owner of a boarding house and a much loved member of the local community.  When he dies, Sunja's mother takes over the business and through very careful management of all their resources she keeps it going and makes just enough money to support her daughter and two local girls who are employed to help with cooking and cleaning.

Sunja has been bought up to be a modest young woman who always works hard and is respectful to her mother.  When she is sixteen she comes to the attention of a wealthy fish broker, Koh Hansu, who she hopes to marry, but after becoming pregnant she discovers he is already married and has no intention of leaving his wife.  Koh Hansu wants to continue the relationship and provide a living for Sunja, but she breaks off all contact as she is not prepared to become his mistress.

As the plot twists she marries another man, Isak, who is prepared to accept the child as his own and she goes with him to Osaka in Japan where he is to work as a Christian missionary.  Although the marriage saves Sunja's reputation, the move plunges her into a life of unimaginable poverty, as all Koreans living in Japan must live in the same slum area and there are no opportunities to rent or buy anything better.  Added to their financial difficulties her husband is already sick with tuberculosis and unlikely to live very long.

They move into a house owned by Isak's brother and his wife Kyunghee and the two women form a strong bond and support one another for years to come. Isak is arrested and imprisoned after she has had a second child with him, and the loss of his income forces her to find a way to support herself as her brother and sister in law do not earn enough to support five people.

She becomes a market trader initially selling Kimchi pickles and later selling sweets and other traditional Korean dishes.  The work is incredibly hard and she has to work all hours in order to make enough money to live on and buy more supplies but eventually the business grows.  After a few years she is offered a job as a cook in a Korean restaurant with Kyunghee and this job gives her financial security after Isak dies.  Just when she feels she has achieved some order in their lives Koh Hansu, her eldest son's father, reappears in the story and reveals he is the owner of the restaurant and arranged for her to work there.

As her sons grow up, her eldest Noa is studious like his father but the younger boy Mozasu is constantly in trouble and does badly at school.  Mozasu eventually leaves school and goes to work in a Pachinko parlour and after a great deal of hard work he makes a lot of money and is able to help support his family.  Noa is capable of going to university but the cost is so high that Sunja cannot afford it no matter how hard she works.  In the end she is forced to approach Koh Hansu and ask him to loan her the money required to get her son the place he has earned.

Up until he goes to university Noa does not know that Koh Hansu is his father and the revalation comes as a life-changing shock.  He leaves the university as he does not want to take the money of a corrupt man and he too starts working in a Pachinko parlour.

I won't reveal any more of the story as it will spoil the book for any potential readers but I enjoyed it very much.  The writing style is easy to read and, although there are many characters, the plot runs in chronological order and never becomes confusing. Well worth reading.