Clay Walls

A landmark modern classic about the Korean American immigrant experience and the dawn of Los Angeles’s Koreatown

A Penguin Classic

Kim Ronyoung (Gloria Hahn, 1926-1987) tells the story of Haesu and Chun, immigrants who fled Japanese-occupied Korea for Los Angeles in the decade prior to World War II, and their American-born children. First published in 1986, Clay Walls offers a portrait of what being Korean in California meant in the first half of the twentieth century and how these immigrants’ nationalist spirit helped them withstand racism and poverty. Kim explores the tensions within a family of immigrants and new Americans and brings to the forefront the themes of Korean immigration, U.S. racism, generational trauma, and the early decades of Los Angeles’s Koreatown from a Korean American woman’s point of view. Through three sections representing the perspectives of mother, father, and daughter, what resonates the most is the voice of a woman and her self-determination, through national identity, marriage, and motherhood.

Author: Kim Ronyoung
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 12/10/2024
Pages: 368
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 7.60h x 5.00w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780143138242
Language: English