“I enjoyed this book a lot. It’s about a Korean family growing up in rural Alberta in the ’90s. It made me laugh and I also got choked up a few times. Jane Park has written a well-crafted, nuanced story about a family aching to present well, expressing love through duty and atoning for past sins. Inheritance is a must-read for all children of immigrants, doubly so if you’re Korean in North America.”

– Ins Choi, playwright of Kim’s Convenience

“A beautiful debut. A wide-ranging meditation on the Korean immigrant experience that explores family, ambition, longing and belonging.”

– Suji Kwock Kim, recipient of the Walt Whitman Award for Notes from the Divided Country

"In an unforgettable debut novel, Jane Park has crafted a finely wrought family drama about the ties that bind and the horrific cost when one commits an unspeakable act. While set in the desolate plains and bustling cities of Canada, the indelible echoes of a Korea ripped apart by war and families forever torn haunt this novel. The Korean word Jeong can mean 'the ties that bind' and implies that sacrifices are required to be part of a family. But this untranslatable word also speaks to connection, the love that exists in families, the warmth and joy we foster and receive. The Kim family at the heart of Inheritance loses their homeland in more ways than one, endures harsh conditions in their adopted country, becomes unraveled by violence. And yet, they forge new bonds and weave themselves back together stronger, more resilient. With her beautifully written novel, Park reminds us that hope is precious, redemption is possible, and forgiveness is always within reach."

– Helena Rho, author of Stone Angels

"With Inheritance, Jane Park peels back the familiar, exposing the unfamiliar that lies beneath. It is a novel about unearthed family secrets…secrets maybe best kept buried, but impossible to ignore. Propulsive from the start, this debut showcases one Korean Canadian family facing heartbreak, turmoil, and unspoken histories in a way that is both intimate and unforgettable. Certainly, an important contribution to Asian writing in Canada and beyond."

– Jenny Heijun Wills, award-winning author of Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related and Everything and Nothing at All  

 

"Jane Park’s Inheritance is a searching and devastating portrait of a family reckoning with historical trauma, and the cost of migration and assimilation. A tender, finely observed, insightful debut."

– Su Chang, author of The Immortal Woman

"Jane Park's Inheritance is a powerful and gripping novel about a Korean-Canadian woman who returns to her childhood home in racist, small town Alberta, where she is forced to confront the consequences of her complicity in a decades old incident that left her family in tatters."

– Edward Lee, author of The Laundryman’s Boy

"Brilliantly paced and beautifully told, Inheritance is above all about family and how, despite our best intentions, we so often do damage to the ones we most love. Jane Park’s characters are ones we can all relate to, working their way through a minefield of past traumas and misunderstandings and misplaced expectations in the hopes of reaching, finally, a place of acceptance and healing."

– Nino Ricci, Governor General Literary Award winner for Lives of the Saints and The Origin of Species

"Inheritance provides a riveting and realistic glimpse into the complex struggles that newcomers face in the process of rebuilding their lives, communities, and sense of self. Jane Park gifts readers with an honest and nuanced protagonist, Anne, who discovers she can only move forward by going back — to her old home, childhood memories, and family secrets. Inheritance is an authentic and layered exploration of identity, sacrifice, and healing. Compelling with an emotional clarity, Park’s debut novel balances heartbreak and hope in a poignant exploration of the realities that come with calling Canada our home."

– Ann Y.K. Choi, author of All Things Under the Moon and Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety