Nancy Jooyoun Kim

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Illinois

An electrifying debut novel for fans of Celeste Ng and Jean Kwok, The Last Story of Mina Lee is a poignant mother-daughter story and surprising mystery that illustrates the devastating realities of being an immigrant in America. Margot Lee's mother, Mina, isn't returning her calls. It's a mystery to twenty-six-year-old Margot, until she visits her childhood apartment in Koreatown, LA, and finds that her mother has suspiciously died. The discovery sends Margot digging through the past, unraveling the tenuous invisible strings that held together her single mother's life as a Korean War orphan and an undocumented immigrant, only to realize how little she truly knew about her mother. Interwoven with Margot's present-day search is Mina's story of her first years in Los Angeles as she navigates the promises and perils of the American myth of reinvention. Barely earning a living by stocking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing Mina ever expects is to fall in love. But that love story sets in motion a string of events that have consequences for years to come, leading up to the truth of what happened the night of her death. Told through the intimate lens of a mother and daughter who have struggled all their lives to understand each other, The Last Story of Mina Lee is both a gripping page-turner and a profound family saga that explores identity, secrets and what it truly means to belong.

The Last Story of Mina Lee

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New York

Texas

A Novel

The New York Times bestselling author of the “timely, important” (PopSugar) The Last Story of Mina Lee returns with a propulsive and suspenseful new novel about a family that unravels when a stranger—who may hold the key to their missing mother—is found dead in their backyard. 1999: The Kim family is struggling to move on with their lives after their mother, Sunny, vanished a year ago. Sixty-one-year-old John Kim feels more isolated from his grown children, Anastasia and Ronald, than ever before. But one evening, their fragile lives are further upended when John discovers the body of a dead stranger in the backyard. The tragedy seems random until it’s revealed that the dead man was carrying a letter to Sunny, sparking a desperate investigation into the stranger’s history and possible connections to Sunny—only to discover that someone has been watching them. 1977: Sunny is pregnant and has just moved to Los Angeles from Korea with her work-obsessed husband. America is not turning out the way she had dreamed it to be, and the loneliness and isolation is broken only by a fateful encounter at a bus stop. The unexpected connection spans the decades and echoes into the family’s lives in the present as they uncover devastating secrets that put not only everything they thought they knew about their mother at risk, but their very lives as well. Both a riveting page-turner and moving family story, What We Kept to Ourselves masterfully explores the consequences of secrets between parents and children, husbands and wives, the search for home when all seems lost, and what it means to dream in America.

What We Kept to Ourselves

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Michigan

Virginia

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

California

Pennsylvania

Book has never been read. Please view all photos. Pet friendly home .

Louisiana

Kansas

Arizona

Reese’s Book Club Pick

Instant New York Times best seller

Riveting and unconventional, The Last Story of Mina Lee traces the far-reaching consequences of secrets in the lives of a Korean immigrant mother and her daughter

Margot Lee's mother is ignoring her calls. Margot can’t understand why, until she makes a surprise trip home to Koreatown, LA, and finds that her mother has suspiciously died.

Determined to discover the truth, Margot unravels her single mother’s past as a Korean War orphan and an undocumented immigrant, only to realize how little she truly knew about her mother, Mina.

Thirty years earlier, Mina Lee steps off a plane to take a chance on a new life in America. Stacking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing she expects is to fall in love. But that moment leads to repercussions for Mina that echo through the decades, leading up to the truth of what happened the night of her death.

Told through the intimate lens of a mother and daughter who have struggled all their lives to understand each other, The Last Story of Mina Lee is a powerful and exquisitely woven debut novel that explores identity, family, secrets, and what it truly means to belong.

Highly Anticipated by Fortune · Popsugar · Purewow · Betches · Gma.com · Vulture · Bustle · The Millions · Lithub · Bookriot · Bookish

“Painful, joyous... A story that cries out to be told.” (Los Angeles Times)

“Kim is a brilliant new voice in American fiction.” (Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel)

“Suspenseful and deeply felt.” (Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists)

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Riveting and unconventional, The Last Story of Mina Lee traces the far-reaching consequences of secrets in the lives of a Korean immigrant mother and her daughter Margot Lee's mother is ignoring her calls. Margot can't understand why, until she makes a surprise trip home to Koreatown, LA, and finds that her mother has suspiciously died. Determined to discover the truth, Margot unravels her single mother's past as a Korean War orphan and an undocumented immigrant, only to realize how little she truly knew about her mother, Mina. Thirty years earlier, Mina Lee steps off a plane to take a chance on a new life in America. Stacking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing she expects is to fall in love. But that moment leads to repercussions for Mina that echo through the decades, leading up to the truth of what happened the night of her death. Told through the intimate lens of a mother and daughter who have struggled all their lives to understand each other, The Last Story of Mina Lee is a powerful and exquisitely woven debut novel that explores identity, family, secrets, and what it truly means to belong. HIGHLY ANTICIPATED BY FORTUNE · POPSUGAR · PUREWOW · BETCHES · GMA.COM · VULTURE · BUSTLE · THE MILLIONS · LITHUB · BOOKRIOT · BOOKISH "Painful, joyous... A story that cries out to be told." --Los Angeles Times "Kim is a brilliant new voice in American fiction." --Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel "Suspenseful and deeply felt." --Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists

Read once with dust jacket off.  From a smoke free cat friendly home. 

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"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Story of Mina Lee comes a propulsive new novel of a family that unravels when a stranger is found dead in their backyard, only to find he might hold the key to finding their mother who disappeared a year ago"--

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Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

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The Last Story of Mina Lee

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What We Kept to Ourselves

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The Last Story of Mina Lee

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

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The Last Story of Mina Lee

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The Last Story of Mina Lee

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

What We Kept to Ourselves

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

What We Kept to Ourselves

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

What We Kept to Ourselves

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

What We Kept to Ourselves

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

What We Kept to Ourselves

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

What We Kept to Ourselves

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee

Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee