A Victorian epic transplanted to Japan, following a Korean family of immigrants through eight decades and four generations. ∗ Shortlisted for the National Book Award ∗ ∗ One of the New York Times 's 10 Best Books of 2017. ∗ Yeongdo, Korea 1911 . In a small fishing village on the banks of the East Sea, a club-footed, cleft-lipped man marries a fifteen-year-old girl. The couple have one child , their beloved daughter Sunja. When Sunja falls pregnant by a married yakuza, the family face ruin. But then Isak, a Christian minister , offers her a chance of salvation: a new life in Japan as his wife. Following a man she barely knows to a hostile country in which she has no friends, no home, and whose language she cannot speak, Sunja's salvation is just the beginning of her story . Through eight decades and four generations, Pachinko is an epic tale of family, identity, love, death and survival.