Synopsis (From Goodreads)
A genre-defying, continents-spanning saga of Korean myth, scientific discovery, and the abiding love that binds even the most broken of families.
Elsa Park is a particle physicist at the top of her game, stationed at a neutrino observatory in the Antarctic, confident she’s put enough distance between her ambitions and the family ghosts she’s run from all her life. But it isn’t long before her childhood imaginary friend—an achingly familiar, spectral woman in the snow—comes to claim her at last.
Years ago, Elsa’s now-catatonic mother had warned her that the women of their line were doomed to repeat the narrative lives of their ancestors from Korean myth and legend. But beyond these ghosts, Elsa also faces a more earthly fate: the mental illness and generational trauma that run in her immigrant family, a sickness no less ravenous than the ancestral curse hunting her.
When her mother breaks her decade-long silence and tragedy strikes, Elsa must return to her childhood home in California. There, among family wrestling with their own demons, she unravels the secrets hidden in the handwritten pages of her mother’s dark stories: of women’s desire and fury; of magic suppressed, stolen, or punished; of the hunger for vengeance.
From Sparks Fellow, Tin House alumna, and Harvard graduate Angela Mi Young Hur, Folklorn is a wondrous and necessary exploration of the myths we inherit and those we fashion for ourselves.
My Review
5 out of 5 stars
Elsa is a physicist studying in Antarctica when she unexpectedly starts seeing her childhood imaginary friend again. Soon after, she learns that her mother has passed away, so she must to return to her childhood home of California. Could it be that this imaginary friend is actually a ghost related to her mother in some way? Elsa tries to search for answers by uncovering her mother’s secrets and dealing with her other family members.
I’m having a difficult time putting together thoughts for this book. It is an incredible perspective of a Korean American woman and how her experience has shaped her views and her life. It also explores dealing with grief, loss, abuse, and generational trauma. Much of this is explored through Korean folktales that Elsa’s mother left behind that tie into a magical realism component of the story. There is a lot going on and it’s at times can be a heavy read, but also very beautifully written. I don’t think I’ve ever read such a genuine and believable perspective before; Elsa just felt so real.
Thank you to the publisher for providing a free eARC. All opinions are my own.
See this review on Goodreads.
Mad Scibrarian 