The Apology

Quotes

 “The Apology is an uncanny high wire act—arch, tender, mercurial. Jimin Han feels like Iris Murdoch’s heir here, even as this novel came from an artistry that is all her own. This is a story unlike any other of Korea and America, and of a mother’s love—majestic, a deathless avenger, shrewd and wild; an ajumma willing to do anything for her family, including defying death.”—Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

"What does it mean to be the keeper of the stories? What does it mean to be left behind? The Apology shows Jimin Han's talents as a skillful storyteller, interweaving questions of sisterhood and separation, generational secrets and ancestral love, through a singular and unforgettable centenarian voice." —Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers

"What a superb story this is, unweaving the tangle of family history—and the wrongheaded honor that has walled out love—as this remarkable novel moves from the unguessable to the expansively imagined. It’s a maze of leaps—across boundaries beyond the known—as one woman grapples with the impossible question of how wrongs can be righted. A memorable and wonderfully original book."—Joan Silber, author of Secrets of Happiness

"The Apology is a vividly rendered novel about the long life spans of secrets, featuring an unforgettable 105-year-old narrator who is as stubborn and proud as she is spirited. With depth, emotion, and total clarity of vision, Jimin Han has crafted a wonderfully moving story about love and loss, betrayal and forgiveness, and the lengths that one woman will go to in this world and the next to undo the mistakes of the past."—Jung Yun, author of O Beautiful and Shelter

"An intriguing, genre-bending novel that proves that the bonds—and grudges—of siblinghood exist beyond the grave. Insightful about secret-keeping and hopeful about the redemptive power of love, Jimin Han is a literary medium for imperfect families."—Courtney Maum, author of The Year of the Horses

“Like magic, this book is at once a page-turning mystery, a supernatural odyssey, a family saga, and a Korean melodrama. Count me forever among Han’s audience.” 
 —Matthew Salesses, author of The Sense of Wonder and Craft in the Real World

“Jimin Han's The Apology is a captivating multigenerational story of love and secrets, forgiveness and redemption, and about how our decisions and actions can reverberate through time, touching the lives of others in ways we cannot anticipate. Han's clear-eyed insights and rich imaginative powers are on full and impressive display in this intricately-woven portrait of a fierce, determined, and wickedly funny matriarch at the end of her life (and beyond). An original and memorable novel. I did not want it to end!”—Mary-Kim Arnold, author of Litany for the Long Moment and The Fish and the Dove

"Jimin Han’s The Apology delights and surprises at every turn—at every chapter, every page. The narrator is a cranky centennial! There are family secrets plus wonderful comedic passages in a novel that doesn’t shy from history or death. It's a comic novel with a serious touch, it's a serious novel with a comic touch, it's the rare combo, serious and comic all at once, deeply felt, deeply alive, brilliantly rendered and willing to explore the complicated affiliations that form along bloodlines, generational divides, class, and love. Also? A hell of a good read, generous with its ghosts both literal and figurative, told with wit and relish."—Juan Martinez, author of Best Worst American and Extended Stay

“With a deft brush, Han paints the quirks and preoccupations of old age as the secrets of her heroine jettison her across the world and right smack into another one, literally. What follows is an inspiring, often funny, and always engaging tale of the complications of familial love.” —Gloria Hatrick, author of Masks

“Han’s riveting, multi-generational family epic is a wonder—a journey that takes us across continents and worlds, and plunges us into the deepest reaches of the human heart. In Jeonga, Han gives us the profoundly moving portrait of a family matriarch who must sacrifice all in her determination to save her descendants; in doing so, she also ultimately redeems herself.”—Kate Brandt, author of Hope for the Worst