Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur

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Readers, this may be one of the most complex, multi-layered stories I have ever read. It is not an easy read, so if you are not in a place to deal with parental death, child death, child abuse, drug addiction, racism, and mental illness, save this book for a different day.

Elsa Park is in Antarctica studying particle physics when a ghost from her past suddenly returns. Her imaginary friend from childhood is now once again visible to her and Elsa is determined to discover the significance of her presence. When she returns to Sweden, Elsa receives news that her mother who has been nearly comatose for over a decade has spoken her first words in just as long. When Elsa discovers that her mother´s unexplained sudden speech coincides with the return of Elsa´s imaginary friend, it sets her off on a journey that will uncover long held secrets that span across the globe. Elegantly combining folktales, flashbacks, and unreliable narrators, Folklorn is a compelling and memorable story of family, love, and desperation.

This is such a complicated story and full of so many layers it´s difficult to know where to start. Elsa easily comes off as insufferable and rude, but as the story unfolds and we learn more about Elsa´s childhood and family, you quickly become more understanding of her interactions with her friends and the people who are trying to help her learn more about her mother´s past. Her parents did not have a healthy relationship and her mother´s pregnancy that ended in a stillbirth while in Korea visiting family alone, only made matters more tense. Add in her brother´s epilepsy diagnosis and the everyday strains of money and racism, and it quickly becomes clear that the family was under constant and intense stress. While on a celebratory road trip to take Elsa to a prestigious boarding school she won a scholarship for as an early teen, Elsa´s mother suffered a stroke-like attack that left her unable to speak or communicate. With one parent in a nursing home and another who had changed after a violent attack, Elsa was essentially left on her own.

To complicate Elsa´s life even more, after her mother´s death, she discovers that the baby her mother lost may actually be alive and had been adopted out. As Elsa looks further into her mother´s life, she believes that she has uncovered a secret message in the ancient folktales her mother told her growing up. When she reaches out to an expert on Korean folklore, she discovers that the expert was part of a large group of children who had been adopted from Korea by Swedish families. As the two work together to find meaning in her mother´s stories, Elsa and Oskar discover what it truly means to be Korean and how central and complicated their identities can feel. All of these matters, from the strained and abusive relationships to the struggles with identity and possible mental illness were written with such love and care for these characters. Every story, every flashback, felt essential to better understanding Elsa and her journey. It was fascinating to learn more about the history of the Korean children who were sent to Sweden and the importance and significance of the folktales included in this story.

While this is a tough read, it is one I highly recommend for the compelling and compassionate writing.

If you would like to add this amazing book to your shelf, you can find ordering information here:

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own. This post also contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases.