“Living everyday in the presence of those who refuse to acknowledge your humanity takes great courage.”
Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko was one of the most popular Historical Fiction books from 2017 and has continued to strike a chord with readers following the release of an Apple TV adaptation. Set against an exotic and mysterious backdrop of twentieth-century Korea, this multigenerational story follows a family secret as it is passed down through a number of highly engrossing characters over the years.
Min Jin Lee’s lucid prose makes the events that unfold all the more heart-wrenching, and the strong female protagonists continue to help make the book one of the most impactful in the genre. Join us today at What We Reading as we celebrate Min Jin Lee’s novel with the best Historical Fiction books like Pachinko!
Green Island – Shawna Yang Ryan
Shawna Yang Ryan starts our list with an emotional series of character studies that follow different generations from Taiwan to the United States. Like Pachinko, it is another book that explores the dilemma between choosing what is right and what might save your own family.
Hauntingly moving and masterfully written, Green Island grapples with ideas around complicity and survival. Through the stories of the characters inside, readers will find themselves asking their own questions about the cost of standing up for their own beliefs, and how far they are willing to go for the ones they love.
A Long Petal Of The Sea – Isabel Allende
Chilean author Isabel Allende introduces Victor Dalamau, a Spanish doctor fighting Fascist forces during the Spanish Civil War in A Long Petal of the Sea. He eventually finds refuge living in Chile with his sister-in-law, Roser.
There, he witnesses and actively participates in some of the most significant events in the country’s history. Meeting individuals ranging from Salvador Allende to Pablo Neruda, Allende’s work, much like Pachinko, delves into the struggles of being exiled from one’s home country and how bonds of affection can be forged even in the most adverse circumstances.
Check Out The Best Spanish Civil War Books
How We Disappeared – Jing-Jing Lee
For another book akin to Pachinko, which features a strong female protagonist in a twentieth-century setting, consider Jing-Jing Lee’s How We Disappeared. It is set in Singapore during and after World War II and follows the story of Wang-Di.
Like Sunja in Min Jin Lee’s book, Wang-Di has to work through gruelling conditions in order to earn a living and support her family. Fast forward to the year 2000, and twelve-year-old Kevin is sitting at his ailing grandmother’s bedside when he overhears a mumbled confession from her. What follows is his investigation into unearthing the truth behind Wang-Di’s life and the incredible bravery shown by women in the face of terrible cruelty.
Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
One of the most powerful books like Pachinko that sweeps through generations living through under-represented regions and periods of history is Homegoing. Yaa Gyasi’s debut novel, this Goodreads Award nominee became renowned for its exquisite language and gut-wrenching sorrow, tracing the lives of two half-sisters in 1800s Ghana. Unaware of each other’s existence, the two sisters’ lives take very contrasting turns, and readers follow their descendants over the next 300 years.
These remarkable characters witness monumental historical forces shaping their lives beyond their control, culminating in a book that highlights how those who came before us drive our present stories. Homegoing is an astonishingly profound work by a young author, and one of the best books for understanding American, Ghanaian and wider African history.
Mornings In Jenin – Susan Abulhawa
A timely and moving look at one of the most defining political conflicts in recent history, Susan Abulhawa’s Mornings in Jenin follows generations of a Palestinian family from their home village, a refugee camp in Israel and to the shores of the United States.
Abulhawa’s book, through the diverging stories of grandparents, parents, and siblings, paints a heartbreaking picture of a land and its people ravaged by war. Like Pachinko, it is a book that packs an emotional punch. Whilst Mornings in Jenin is a work of fiction, its message about the human cost of a genuine conflict in our time is a potent one.
The Kitchen God’s Wife – Amy Tan
Like Pachinko, Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife follows strong female leads and a series of secrets that have followed them throughout history. Winnie and Helen have kept each other’s secrets for over fifty years. Believing that she is dying, Helen wants to reveal all. Instead, Helen strongly argues that she should be the one to tell her daughter, Pearl, about her life, including the dark secret that not even Winnie knows about.
What follows is the empowering tale of Winnie’s life, her path from a small island near Shanghai in the 1920s, navigating China gripped by WW2 and the desperate series of events that led to her arrival in the United States in 1949.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
