THE NOH FAMILY

A sort-of-princess story, with all the appealing ingredients of a K-drama.

Eighteen-year-old Chloe Chang, who has grown up in Oklahoma, feels “not quite 100 percent Korean” but then she’s never known any relatives other than her immigrant mother. Her father, who supposedly had no other family, died before she was born, and her mom’s income as a nurse means Chloe has to tuck away her dream of studying fashion in New York. When her BFFs persuade her to take a 23andMe DNA test—insert “The Dramatic Pause,” K-drama style—she discovers her extended family on her paternal side in Korea. Before she knows it, she’s off to Seoul to be reunited with one of its richest business families, the owners of a posh department store, all the while still upset at her mom for keeping her apart from them. What promises to be a fairy tale—a doting but iron-fisted Halmoni, a pair of “ridiculously glamorous” cousins, and a family guesthouse complete with a personal chef—is suddenly derailed by perilous, devious twists and turns as Chloe desperately tries to make connections between her father’s past and her present. Just like Chloe’s favorite K-dramas, the novel sucks readers in from the get-go with lots of glitz, grit, and a hint of romance as well as a handsome assistant who always has an umbrella at the ready, mouthwatering descriptions of food, and cutting insights into familial and societal dynamics.

An enjoyable, pacy family drama.