comment on style / language

The novel is presented in modern-day American English, which is appropriate to the time and place of the novel. Though Kyung and Mae knew no English when they arrived in America decades earlier, they have abandoned the Korean language entirely. With the exception of one scene, there are no Korean words or phrases in the novel. In that scene, Mae is out of her head with pain and fear, and she reverts briefly to Korean. Kyung says that he instinctively understands at least some of what she is saying, but he is quickly frustrated by the language barrier.