This episode we interview Jane Park about her debut novel, INHERITANCE. Jane is a second-generation Korean-Canadian writer. She was born in Edmonton, Alberta, lived in New York City for over a decade, and now lives in Calgary, Alberta. INHERITANCE is her debut novel. Linny was excited to identify the similarities of Jane’s life and that of her leading character in INHERITANCE, Anne.

In INHERITANCE, Anne Kim is a disaffected lawyer living a successful life in New York City – a far cry from her impoverished childhood in rural Canada where she faced racism and bullying as a second-generation Korean immigrant. When Anne returns to Canada for her father’s funeral, she must face the relationships and past she thought she had left behind and reckon with who she is.

We talk with Jane, the author of INHERITANCE, about the second-generation immigrant experience, the dark family dysfunction humor that only immigrant kids understand, and the family scripts set forth by Confucianism. We learn about how Holocaust generational trauma literature informed the novel, as well as how Jane worked to prevent her trauma from impacting her own children. Jane also tells us how becoming a mother changed her writing in INHERITANCE and how her interest in God is reflected in the novel.

We hear about Jane's family’s journey to Canada and her journey to becoming a novelist, despite its incongruity with most immigrant families’ desires for children to become doctors or lawyers. Jane tells us about the crucial support she received, financial and artistic, that brought this novel to life. We also learn about her love of fine arts.

And, we now have two Korean words to add to our vocabularies: eunjangdo and ajumma. One controversial; one endearing.