Korean Immigrants put into Story

 I chose the author Min Jin Lee, a Korean born author who is now based out of Harlem, New York. She attended Trumbull University, Yale University and Georgetown University Law Center. She has two books that are about the same popularity wise. Her first was a book called Free Food for Millionaires written in 2007 and Pachinko written in 2017 and i read the description of Pachinko and it really intrigued me and that's what made me choose her. Also she is a relatively recent writing author. (1)

Pachinko is one of Min Jin Lee's most famous books she's written, the book follows 4 generations of Korean immigrants. (same family) The story starts in a small Korean fishing village, following Sunja, a teenager of a disabled fisherman. After Sunja falls in love with a fish broker, named Koh Hansu. But after she becomes pregnant with his child she discovers he is already married. After she starts to recover from that she meets a gentle, frail Christian minister named Isak Baek offers to marry her which saves her from being disgraced and she goes with him to Japan. A narrartive of discrimination (Zainichi) about Sunja's family spans decades and generations. The book follows her sons (Noa and Mozaru) and then her grandchildren. (2)

Min Jin Lee has won countless awards, for her top 3 most popular books she has won new york best seller for 2 of them from what i got. She talks about in a atricle she wrote for NY times about how she learnt too write so well. And how reading was the thing that really got her good at writing and led to her winning awards for it. Her book Pachinko was a finalist for National Book Award, one of the most prestigous awards you can win for a novel you wrote. (4)

One of her next most famous novels is called, "Free Food for Millionaires". The books basic plot is about a very ambitous woman named Casey Han, who graduated from Princeton in economics. Even though she graduated from an Ivy League school she still graduates with lots of credit card debt, while she lives in Manhattan which is not cheap. Her parents are first generation immigrants from Korea. they run a dry cleaning shop in queens and sacrafice lots for their daughters. Even though they sacraficed a lot for her, her dad cuts her off beacause of her lifestyle choices and that is how the story starts. (3)

From what i've learned about Min Jin Lee she seems like a good person who writes about issues or past issues more people need to be on alert about. She also seems like she steps in too help out when she can. Basically someone who you would look at online for example and be like, yea i like her she seems nice. (5)

Kane, Aidan. “Min Jin Lee.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Sept. 2026, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Jin_Lee. (1)

Kane, Aidan. “Pachinko.” Goodreads, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/34051011-pachinko. Accessed 17 Sept. 2026. (2)

Kane, Aidan. “Free Food for Millionaires.” Goodreads, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/book/show/40727626-free-food-for-millionaires. Accessed 24 Sept. 2026. (3)

Kane, Aidan. A Lifetime of Reading Taught Min Jin Lee How to Write about Her Immigrant World (Published 2021), www.nytimes.com/2021/04/07/books/review/min-jin-lee-writer.html. Accessed 24 Sept. 2026. (4)

Kane, Aidan. A Lifetime of Reading Taught Min Jin Lee How to Write about Her Immigrant World (Published 2021), www.nytimes.com/2021/04/07/books/review/min-jin-lee-writer.html. Accessed 24 Sept. 2026. (5)