The Apology

Jeonga is our sartorially sharp and stylish, quick tongued, and fabulously wealthy protagonist. She's also 105, or at least was until she is struck dead by a Chicago bus. (Don't worry, this all happens in the first chapter.)

We flash back to find out what this centenarian from Seoul, South Korea is doing in the United States with her equally aged sisters. They are in-fighting, status-hungry, gossipy siblings that you often forget are even older than Joenga. All of them, like aged-up ajummas, are obsessed with appearances — so much so that even in death, Jeonga remains as a ghost to try and prevent what she considers an absolutely ill-fated engagement.

Han delivers an expansive family saga bringing us back to the Korean War and the histories entwined there, all the way into the present as members of the family carve out a life in their adopted country, and then adds another element to the story by bringing us into a richly imagined afterlife. But always with a light touch that keeps everything moving along with unexpected doses of humour throughout. (being a ghost is hard!) Also, it turns out your Korean elders will never stop meddling in your affairs even generations down the line. 아이참!