We Carry the Sea in Our Hands: A Novel
by Janie Kim
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Description
Told with poetic prose and an imaginative voice, this debut novel explores family, trauma, and belonging through one woman's journey to reconnect with her roots. Abby Rodier was a "drop-box baby," a Korean orphan whose mother could not take care of her and left her as an infant. Abby's tumultuous experience in the American foster care system has led her to live a solitary and guarded life, closed off to almost everyone except her best friend Iseul, whose parents took Abby into their home as show more a child. Abby's work studying the origins of life in sea slugs and bacteria leads her to wonder about her birth parents and question her place in this world. It's not long before Abby stumbles upon a biological discovery that will change the course of her life. Meanwhile, Iseul's devotion to their ill brother leads to an entanglement between her work as an investigative journalist and the murky world of black-market medicine. After a tragic event, Abby's life is thrown into a tailspin. With the rug pulled from under her feet, she spirals into a disorientation of grief, apparitions, and compulsions. With the help of those around her, Abby must embark on a journey to understand her true roots and make peace with her present. From an exciting new voice in literary fiction, "We Carry the Sea in Our Hands" is a complex and layered ode to found family, perfect for fans of "The Last Story of Mina Lee" and "Goodbye, Vitamin". show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
In a Nutshell: A literary fiction debut that encompasses several themes and subgenres within its plot. Complex, chaotic, compelling! The first half left me befuddled, but the second half cleverly brought all the arcs together. Recommended, but it would help if you are a science nerd.
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Plot Preview:
Bookish Yays: show less
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Plot Preview:
Twenty-four-year old Abby has only recently found out that she is a “drop-box baby”, a Korean orphan abandoned as an infant. She has no clue about her birth parents. When her adoptive parents – American father and Korean mother – struggle with their marriage, Abby was yet again thrown into the foster care system, only to be adopted again by a Korean-origin couple, whose daughter Iseul ends up as Abby’sshow more
best friend.
Now, all these years later, Abby works with sea slugs, using them to research the origins of life. She also decides to look for her birth parents. Meanwhile, Iseul is an investigative journalist whose career path and love for her terminally sick brother leads her towards black market medicine. One event changes the trajectory of Abby’s personal and professional life.
The story comes to us in Abby’s first-person perspective.
Bookish Yays: show less
In a Nutshell: A literary fiction debut that encompasses several themes and subgenres within its plot. Complex, chaotic, compelling! The first half left me befuddled, but the second half cleverly brought all the arcs together. Recommended, but it would help if you are a science nerd.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
Bookish Yays: show less
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
Twenty-four-year old Abby has only recently found out that she is a “drop-box baby”, a Korean orphan abandoned as an infant. She has no clue about her birth parents. When her adoptive parents – American father and Korean mother – struggle with their marriage, Abby was yet again thrown into the foster care system, only to be adopted again by a Korean-origin couple, whose daughter Iseul ends up as Abby’sshow more
best friend.
Now, all these years later, Abby works with sea slugs, using them to research the origins of life. She also decides to look for her birth parents. Meanwhile, Iseul is an investigative journalist whose career path and love for her terminally sick brother leads her towards black market medicine. One event changes the trajectory of Abby’s personal and professional life.
The story comes to us in Abby’s first-person perspective.
Bookish Yays: show less
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Fiction: Asia
85 works; 2 members
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