Inheritance By Jane Park

A Korean Canadian woman returns to the prairies, where she revisits her childhood and confronts her haunting guilt.

Anne Kim is a New York lawyer whose success is built on forgetting the past. When her father dies and she returns to Edmonton for the funeral, she is shocked to discover that he was from North Korea and that he left his brother behind.

As Anne reads the undelivered letters her father wrote to his brother about life in Canada, she is transported back to her childhood during the 1980s and 90s. She recalls the struggles her parents faced as immigrants who ran a grocery store in a rural prairie town. Anne and her brother, Charles, felt the weight of their father’s expectations: whereas Anne was driven to excel and became an overachiever, Charles rebelled, determined to pursue his own dreams. His rebellion created a rift that culminated in a devastating act, irrevocably shattering the family and leaving Anne overwhelmed by inescapable guilt.

Inheritance explores the immigrant experience, the sacrifices made by both parents and children, and the way trauma is transferred to the next generation. As Anne completes her journey to the past, she emerges to finally define life on her own terms.