Summary

In Chapter 12, Sunja returns to Osaka to nurse her own mother, Yangjin, who is dying of stomach cancer. She has been living with Kyunghee, who also cared for Yoseb before he died. As Yangjin’s body atrophied, she could “imagine leaving her body to run swiftly like a deer” (416). Yangjin is interested in Solomon and his party. Yangjin loves watching a television show called Other Lands about the Korean diaspora throughout the world. They discuss the choices that Sunja made; Yangjin thinks that Hansu brought badness on Noa, while the good Isak bought good fortune for his descendants. Yangjin tells Sunja that Kyunghee cares more about her than Sunja does, that Sunja only cares “about Noa and Mozasu. You only came back when you learned that I was going to die” (421). Her medicine makes her speak freely. Then, Yangjin tells Kyunghee...