Chinhominey's Secret

In Kim's spare but affecting first novel, the Chois, a Korean-American family that has settled comfortably in West L.A., make peace--with themselves and with a disturbing prophecy that has haunted them. In Korea 22 years before the opening of the contemporary story, Yung Chul's mother visits a fortune teller to learn the fate of her son's approaching marriage. The seer predicts that two daughters will be born to Yung Chul and Myung Hee, the eldest bringing joy and pride to the family and the youngest bearing tragedy. The newlyweds emigrate to the U.S. in the hopes of escaping this dire prediction; two daughters are indeed born to them, but their marriage becomes strained. When ""Chinhominey"" (Korean for paternal grandmother) finally comes to the States to visit her family, the old woman's superstitions and piercing wisdom initially prove disruptive. The generation conflict between immigrant parents and Americanized young adult children may have dimensions that Chinhominey can't parse, and effects she can't predict. Christina, a 24-year-old beauty, finds herself engaged to a violent and controlling young doctor. And Grace, who feels inferior to her sister in physical attributes, compensates by being a perfect student at UCLA. Grace is the liveliest character; her navigations of the college social scene and dating are humorous and endearing; she's ordinary, not cursed. Narrating with the simplicity of a folk tale, which sometimes prevents fully dimensional portrayal, Kim reveals the characters' stories in alternating chapters. Some segments flesh out the family's Korean past and are touched with magical moments: a dragonfly on a tether or a troll-like man in a cave of branches. A too tidy (yet tear-producing) ending resolved the Choi family's cross-cultural drama. (May)