Yeji Y. Ham
March 07th, 2024
Everyday, Yewon grapples with the reality of her life. She is a young woman out of her job at a convenience store, trapped in the tiny South Korean village when she was born and raised. She watches her mom wash the bones of their ancestors in their old bathtub. Every house has them, these rotting, fragmented bones that never stops reminding them of what they have lost to war. Yeji Y. Ham’s novel, The Invisible Hotel (Bond Street Books $34.00) follows Yewon’s dreams of a mysterious hotel that leads her to uncover unsettling truths about her country’s collective heritage, as she faces one tragedy after the next. Ham’s story begs the vital question: How do we honor and care for our elders without reinforcing a cycle of generational trauma? 9780385698054
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