Pachinko
Min Jin Lee Apollo €17.99
The setting may be light years from Brexit or Donald Trump’s America, but this beautifully crafted family saga – by the bestselling author of Free Food For Millionaires – feels nonetheless like a fable for our times. It opens at the start of the 20th century, with a Korean girl called Sunja falling pregnant and being offered the chance to make a new life in Japan by a young Christian minister. But the immigrant experience is fraught with hardship and, as Sunja and her descendants find, poisoned by prejudices that take years to dissipate – if they ever do. It is a strong story, delivered with exemplary simplicity.