“Magnificent—a deep education from a master storyteller. Surfacing stirring questions about diaspora and striving and the burdens we place on the shoulders of parents and children alike, American Hagwon is among the very best novels of immigration. A work of grace and beauty that unspools one thread at a time, much like life itself.” 

—Matthew Desmond, author of Poverty and Evicted, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

 

“There are meticulous, beautifully crafted layers to Min Jin Lee's latest novel, American Hagwon. It is, on the surface, an engrossing story about a Korean family and their resilience as forces beyond their control alter the trajectory of their lives. But it is, at its core, a story about striving, the complexities of the hagwon system, and a cultural pressure to succeed at any cost. As Lee's story unfolds, and we get to know a sprawling cast of characters across three continents, the impressive scope and scale of this new epic reveals itself in astonishing ways. She brings grand ambition, fierce heart, and the tenderest hope to a novel I didn't want to end.”

—Roxane Gay, author of Hunger, Bad Feminist and Difficult Women

 

“Min Jin Lee has written another masterpiece.  American Hagwon is, at once, an intimate story that spans three continents of the Koh family’s love, loss, and disappointments.  It is also a story of how the ongoing demand for success can distort how we live and love.  In this sense, the novel critiques a world defined by material gain, consumption, and status.  The Koh family finds itself caught up in the whirlwind of it all.  Despite the devastation wrought by the burden of achievement, faith and a gentle and unshakable love remain.  Something we all need to remember and feel in these dark days.”  

—Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., author of America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries

 

“American Hagwon is a stunning novel, following three generations of families of the Korean diaspora across four continents. Lee's explorations of education, class and gender are finely wrought as each character must find his or her sense of purpose—and anchor that purpose in love as well as labor—notwithstanding the cruelties of economic crises and the disorientations of displacement. Bound together by faith, tradition, and origin, the moral universe of the novel's characters is brilliant with Lee's ever present ethical clarity and deep sensitivity. Yearning and forbearance, grace and devastation, course through these pages, in a story that is both epic and intimate. Yet again, Lee has written a novel that both speaks to the world and illuminates Korean history and culture. Indeed, she makes clear that it is a history we all would do well to learn and heed.”

—Imani Perry, author of Black in Blues and South to America, winner of the National Book Award

 

“With her gift for wonderfully empathetic storytelling, this is a profoundly generous and humane novel about duty, family, and the dream of a better life. In this multi-layered portrait of immigrants and expatriates, Lee conveys so much human warmth while capturing the stifling pressures of the Korean educational system. I was fully absorbed by the fates of the Koh family and, as the novel worked its cumulative magic, deeply moved by this masterful tale of sacrifice, familial devotion, and, ultimately, acceptance.”

—Douglas Stuart, author of Young Mungo and Shuggie Bain, winner of the Booker Prize

 

“American Hagwon is a compelling, moving epic of family life across continents and generations. It asks how we learn — and how we learn who we are or who we can be — by drawing us close to heart-warming, heart-breaking characters who will stay with us long after the last page is turned.”

—Erica Wagner, author of Gravity and Wash

 

“A novel of extraordinary ambition. Min Jin Lee has constructed a world so rich and intricate that you forget you're reading—you're simply living alongside the Kohs as they navigate betrayal, displacement, and the shifting promises of a better future. A stunning achievement."

—Tara Westover, author of Educated