Forgotten Country

I loved this quiet book. Beautifully written, but it is the small shared experiences that ring familiar. An apple peel, stories of persimmons, the ”death” of an aunt that hides a stranger truth and a pervasive sense of melancholy. I don't often get to read stories that obliquely mirror my own experience and I'm grateful for the experience. That is also a perfect cover.

Janie and her family are estranged from everything that matters, estranged from their country of origin, estranged from their new home, estranged from their extended family, estranged from each other.

Catherine Chung takes a look at the pain of estrangement and the desperate ways people try to bridge the gaps left by estrangement in this beautifully written novel, Forgotten Country.

Highly recommended.