The Boat Not Taken

Overview

Desperate for her daughter’s safety during the Communist takeover of North Korea, Joanna Choi’s mother left her in a Seoul orphanage. She retrieved her months later to return to their once-tranquil hamlet, but the boatman on the returning ship refused to let the pair board. Joanna and her beloved Omai (mother) became immigrants in mid-twentieth century California, whose streets were supposedly paved with gold, but whose reality was one of hardship, poverty, and anti-Asian discrimination. A lyrical, often humorous memoir, THE BOAT NOT TAKEN is also the story of a divided Korea. Above all it is a love letter to an extraordinary woman: an independent widow fiercely devoted yet destructively deceptive to her child, whose shattering secret, uncovered after her death, shakes the author’s sense of identity.

Reviews

"Kalbus writes with unadorned honesty, presenting lice, infections, political torture, and shattering betrayal with straightforward, calm prose. Her emotional control on the page bears witness to enduring strength, acknowledging and celebrating Omai's inspiring support and unfaltering determination." —Terry Hong, Shelf Awareness

Author Biography

Joanna Choi Kalbus was born in North Korea. She made two critical migrations—escaping to South Korea after the Communist takeover, then immigrating to the United States as a ten-year-old during the Korean War. She received her PhD in Educational Administration from the University of California, Riverside, and has worked as a teacher, principal, regional superintendent. She is a writer, harpist, and annual participant in the Bay to Breakers Footrace. She lives in Moraga, CA. Joanna Choi Kalbus was born in North Korea. She made two critical migrations—escaping to South Korea after the Communist takeover, then immigrating to the United States as a ten-year-old during the Korean War. She received her PhD in Educational Administration from the University of California, Riverside, and has worked as a teacher, principal, regional superintendent. She is a writer, harpist, and annual participant in the Bay to Breakers Footrace. She lives in Moraga, CA.