Book

American Seoul : a memoir

Summary: Helena Rho was six years old when her family left Seoul, Korea, for America and its opportunities. Years later, her Korean-ness behind her, Helena had everything a model minority was supposed to want: she was married to a white American doctor and had a beautiful home, two children, and a career as an assistant professor of pediatrics. For decades she fulfilled the expectations of others. All the while Helena kept silent about the traumas--both professional and personal--that left her anxious yet determined to escape. It would take a catastrophic event for Helena to abandon her career at the age of forty, recover her Korean identity, and set in motion a journey of self-discovery. In her powerful and moving memoir, Helena Rho reveals the courage it took to break away from the path that was laid out for her, to assert her presence, and to discover the freedom and joy of finally being herself.

Record details

ISBN: 9781542035552
ISBN: 1542035554
ISBN: 9781542035576
ISBN: 1542035570
Physical Description: print
xviii, 204 pages ; 21 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Little A, [2022]

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:

Crossroad -- The last jangsohn -- Blood falmingos in Uganda -- No act of kindness -- Loss of breath -- A shard of glass -- A mother's burden -- new Year's Day -- Leaving medicine -- The Korean woman -- A successful doctor -- The cranes -- Mother tongue -- parallel universe -- Blue petals on the wall -- Bagpipes play in Central Park -- Legacy of abuse -- A Korean elegy -- In Havana with Hemingway -- A return to Seoul.