Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur offers a folkloristic, scientific, and historical exploration of what it means to belong to someplace, some culture, or someone.
Location: USA, Sweden (Stockholm, Fårö) and the Antarctic
Folklorn synopsis
A genre-defying, continent-spanning saga of Korean myth, scientific discovery, and the abiding love that binds even the most broken of families.
Elsa Park is a particle physicist at the top of her game, stationed at a neutrino observatory in the Antarctic, confident she’s put enough distance between her ambitions and the family ghosts she’s run from all her life. But it isn’t long before her childhood imaginary friend—an achingly familiar, spectral woman in the snow—comes to claim her at last.
Years ago, Elsa’s now-catatonic mother had warned her that the women of their line were doomed to repeat the narrative lives of their ancestors from Korean myth and legend. But beyond these ghosts, Elsa also faces a more earthly fate: the mental illness and generational trauma that run in her immigrant family, a sickness no less ravenous than the ancestral curse hunting her.
When her mother breaks her decade-long silence and tragedy strikes, Elsa must return to her childhood home in California. There, among family wrestling with their own demons, she unravels the secrets hidden in the handwritten pages of her mother’s dark stories: of women’s desire and fury; of magic suppressed, stolen, or punished; of the hunger for vengeance.
Book review
Have you ever heard of piblokto (Arctic Hysteria) or hwa-byeong (fire sickness)? These are names of culture-bound syndromes that only ‘exist’ in certain cultures and families. Let’s add the title of this book to this list of syndromes. Folklorn is in so many ways one of the best book titles I have ever come across: it hints at feeling lost, a certain (be)longing, and the magic and mystery of folk tales.
Through Elsa’s story, you explore what it means to belong somewhere – not only in terms of origin, but also in terms of relationships with people (including yourself). The many comments about race and culture and vulgar “jokes” sometimes made me feel uncomfortable and annoyed with Elsa as a narrator. I don’t like her as a person, but I do recognize that she is an insightful storyteller who fits a story like this. In fact, my slight dislike and appreciation shows Angela Mi Young Hur’s writing skills.
In Folklorn, you’ll read about what it is like to grow up in another country from two different perspectives: the adoptee and the immigrant. Neither had it easy, but despite being “neglected” by their (foster) parents, the story shows that the (foster) parents did their best with the knowledge that was available at the time.
“I just want to be enclosed and untouchable, lest anyone expect me to bloom.” Elsa is not in a happy place, yet that doesn’t make this a depressing story. Her self-mockery and thoughts show a deep-rooted hurt. One of the things that Folklorn does really well is that it creates an understanding of the characters and the situation. Just ask yourself the following question: when you act with someone’s best interests at heart, are you doing what is best for them? Did you ask them?
When Elsa returned to the USA, the story got a bit tedious. The balance tipped too much in favor of flashbacks and repetition. Also: the in-depth scientific, historical, and folkloristic explanations can get a bit lengthy at times but if you like the topics, then you’ll appreciate the information. Just when you think the story is going to linger in the past too much, it starts to move forward again. Thank you, Oskar!
The folklore is carefully woven into the real story, I especially appreciated the link to the motif from the story of the girl with the blind father. The folktales help to keep Elsa’s story on track. Elsa’s mother and the other people who ensure the transmission of cultural heritage are vigorous and, in their own way, love the next generation.
Folklorn is an intriguing read that I encourage you to pick up because it mixes folktales, science, history, and cultural aspects in such a cool way.
Angela Mi Young Hur is a Korean American author based in Sweden. Folklorn is her second novel.
Interested?
Pre-order your copy of Folklorn from Amazon (available 27 April 2021).
Book details
Title: Folklorn
Author: Angela Mi Young Hur
Publisher: Erewhon Books
Pages: 384
ISBN (13): 9781645660163
Publication date: 27 April 2021
Many thanks to Erewhon Books and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
