McKinney invents a reigning queen of Korean historical romance films, Soong Nan, who is no stranger to real-life drama. But it wasn't until she went to live with her estranged adult children in Hawaii that she began to understand what drama really is. Ne'er-do-well son Donny has yet another business venture he's hoping Soong Nan will bankroll. Daughter Won Ju is in an unhappy marriage, held together for the sake of her troubled teenage son. And younger daughter Darian has dropped out of college on the mainland, searching for a way to honor her ethnic heritage. As Soong Nan becomes more deeply enmeshed in her childrens' lives, she finds herself reflecting on the turbulence of her early years as a teenage survivor of Korea's civil war, her movie career, and her marriages to two powerful men. McKinney's portrait of a besieged woman within a multicultural, multigenerational family saga poignantly and powerfully dramatizes the troubles women face, the pan-Asian melting pot of Hawaiian culture, and the conflicts inherent in Americanization. Carol Haggas, From Booklist
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