Quiet Odyssey
A Pioneer Korean Woman in America
University of Washington Press · Print & ebook · November 4, 2019
Mary Paik Lee left her native country in 1905, traveling with her parents as a political refugee after Japan imposed control over Korea.
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- Who it’s for
- A firsthand account brings early Korean American history into focus through one family’s migration and work.
- Themes
- Early Korean American history, Immigration, Racism
- Genres
- Asian & Asian American Lives, Asian American Studies, Immigration & Emigration
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Mary Paik Lee left her native country in 1905, traveling with her parents as a political refugee after Japan imposed control over Korea. Her father worked in the sugar plantations of Hawaii briefly before taking his family to California. They shared the poverty-stricken existence endured by thousands of Asian immigrants in the early twentieth century, working as farm laborers, cooks, janitors, and miners.
Continue reading
Lee recounts racism on the playground and the ravages of mercury mining on her father?s health, but also entrepreneurial successes and hardships surmounted with grace. With a new foreword by David K. Yoo, this edition reintroduces Quiet Odyssey to readers interested in Asian American history and immigration studies. The volume includes thirty illustrations and a comprehensive introduction and bibliographic essay by respected scholar Sucheng Chan, who collaborated closely with Lee to edit the biography and ensure the work was true to the author?s intended vision. This award-winning book provides a compelling firsthand account of early Korean American history and continues to be an essential work in Asian American studies.
History Up Close
A firsthand account brings early Korean American history into focus through one family’s migration and work.
Come here for
- A personal lens on immigration and Asian American history
- A sustained narrative grounded in lived experience
Expect
- Accounts of racism, labor, and family hardship
- Entrepreneurial successes and hardships met with grace
Where it sits
| Asian & Asian American Lives | 98% |
|---|---|
| Asian American Studies | 50% |
| Immigration & Emigration | 44% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Asian & Asian American Lives
- 20th-Century America
- Asian American Studies
- Authors
- Mary Paik Lee, Sucheng Chan
- Publisher
- University of Washington Press
- Published
- November 4, 2019
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Early Korean American history · Immigration · Racism
- Reading lane
- Asian & Asian American Lives