REVIEW: Pachinko (Min Jin Lee)

Book: Pachinko

Author: Min Jin Lee

Premise: In the early 1900s Korea, teenaged Sunja, falls for a wealthy stranger. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant — and that her lover is married — she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son's powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations.

[⚠️CW: suicide, racism, war, violence, drugs, rape?] 

I'm in two minds with this book. I found it really interesting learning about the relationship between Korea and Japan during the 20th Century. I didn't realise there was a prejudice against Koreans and the tricky situation of Koreans living in Japan.

I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second. The first half follows Sunja and covers the period up to the end of WW2. I felt really close to the main characters during this half and I just wanted them to be happy. In the second half, the family grows so we have more main characters, who I didn't gel with as much. There were many bittersweet moments throughout so don't expect happy endings!