Book Description

A deeply affecting and emotionally charged novel that explores the true meaning of beauty, family, home, and race, Translations of Beauty radiates with raw wit, heartache, and universal truths.

It not only reaffirms the unbreakable ties that bind all families but also lays bare the boundaries and pitfalls of the American dream.

Mia Yun, whose first novel was hailed by Kirkus Reviews as a superlative debut, maps the relationship of twin sisters Inah and Yunah from their early childhood in South Korea to growing up in Queens, New York. At the center of Translations of Beauty is the terrible childhood accident that disfigured Inah for life, and the overwhelming sadness and guilt Yunah feels at having been spared. It opens with Yunah, now twenty-eight, flying out to Italy to rescue Inah who, in her struggle to find her way, has drifted away from her family. Thrown together again after so much time, long-ago joys and heartaches are stirred, and the twins find their relationship tested as they are forced to confront unresolved issues.

It is the account of growing up in America as immigrant children, dealing with the painful reality of Inah's disfigured face and trying to find their individual identities while negotiating their relationship with each other; of their family's struggle to stay whole as years of collective struggles and colliding dreams and values take a toll on each of them and of its effort to find dignity amid the constant jockeying for respect, acceptance, and loyalty.

Peppered throughout this darkly poignant novel are colorful, vividly drawn, ethnically and socially diverse secondary characters: Uncle Shin, the loyal family man and avariciousbusinessman; Cousin Ki-hong, a rebellious KISS fan in his youth who gloats in domestic bliss as a married man; Auntie Minnie, an irrepressible, loud, and bawdy beautician; and, finally, Uncle Wilson, Aunt Minnie's African-American husband who divorces her to marry a woman of his own race.

Thought-provoking and uncommonly honest, this story of one Korean family's heartbreaking journey in America will resonate powerfully with every reader.

From Publishers Weekly

Yun's second novel is every bit the tale of an immigrant's child, struggling to please traditional parents while carving out a place in a strange new world. But the narrator of this story, Korean-born Yunah, is overshadowed less by memories of the homeland than by her twin sister, Inah, whose forceful personality and inner demons are the focus of Yunah's narrative. The mismatched twins-Inah sparkling and mischievous, Yunah quiet and observant-are four years old when an accident leaves Inah with a burn-scarred face. Their parents decide to emigrate from their small Korean village, hoping to provide better opportunities for Inah, and the family ends up in Flushing, Queens, "a stopover place on the way to the Real America." Flushing, however, becomes their permanent residence, with the twins' father unable to find well-paying work elsewhere. Meanwhile their mother becomes more demanding, pushing Inah to make up for what she sees as the impossibility of normal happiness. The stories of youth in Flushing alternate with Yunah's present-tense account of a visit to Italy to see Inah, now a tomboyish, defensive graduate school dropout traveling aimlessly around the world. At 28, the twins are still struggling to connect after years of resentment, though there are moments of clarity when Yunah begins to understand her tormented twin. The rambling episodes may leave the reader wishing for a more decisive narrative arc, more introspection from Yunah, or more than the familiar-sounding platitudes about the nature of immigrant life, unhappy families and finding one's own way. Still, the novel will have an appeal for readers with their own experiences of displacement, and the despair of two sisters for whom opportunity has festered into hopelessness is convincingly portrayed.

From Booklist

Yun's second novel, following House of the Winds (1998), is an insightful saga of the immigrant experience deepened by a guilt-defined relationship between twins. Born in Korea in 1973, Yunah and Inah are beautiful girls. After a tragic accident leaves Inah with permanent facial scarring, the family moves to America, hoping in vain to protect her from ridicule. Chapters alternate between flashbacks and the present, in which Inah and Yunah are traveling together in Italy after their mother sent Yunah to convince Inah, who inexplicably left her doctoral studies at Oxford, to come home. Inah has apparently become inured to the stares of strangers, but her peregrinations suggest an inability to face reality. Yunah's guilt over being the normal twin plagues her and keeps her from leaving home. In the cathartic weeks spent with her sister abroad, Yunah realizes she can no longer handle the "silent, stoic Inah" who has become "dead and unreadable." A memorable portrayal, imbued with Yun's poetic handling of this family's unfulfilled dreams and joyless compromises.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Deborah Donovan

Book Dimension :

length: (cm)21.6 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)13.5