Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

In the decades before WW11, Korea was controlled by Japan.  They were not even allowed to speak Korean.  Strangely enough, many escaped to Japan where they lived in poor Korean communities but were able to take advantage of greater opportunities depending on how much they embraced Japanese culture.  Pachinko is a game of chance popular in casino type settings in Japan.  A ball is set in motion and its direction changed by pegs set randomly in the board.  This is a story of four generations of a Korean family whose only daughter is lured to Japan hoping for a better life for her unborn child.  But like the game, there are realities and events that alter the path she anticipates.  And so it goes generation after generation - chances and challenges - the push and pull of the culture of history and the culture of opportunity - the life of the immigrant.  An interesting look at a history I knew little about.