American Seoul: A Memoir

Helena Rho

ISBN 10: 1542035570 / ISBN 13: 9781542035576

Published by Amazon Publishing, 2022

About this Item

She was everything everyone else wanted her to be. Until she followed her own path. Helena Rho was six years old when her family left Seoul, Korea, for America and its opportunities. Years later, her Korean-ness behind her, Helena had everything a model minority was supposed to want: she was married to a white American doctor and had a beautiful home, two children, and a career as an assistant professor of pediatrics. For decades she fulfilled the expectations of others. All the while Helena kept silent about the traumas?both professional and personal?that left her anxious yet determined to escape. It would take a catastrophic event for Helena to abandon her career at the age of forty, recover her Korean identity, and set in motion a journey of self-discovery. In her powerful and moving memoir, Helena Rho reveals the courage it took to break away from the path that was laid out for her, to assert her presence, and to discover the freedom and joy of finally being herself.

Seller Inventory # CIN1542035570VG

Bibliographic Details

• Title: American Seoul: A Memoir
• Publisher: Amazon Publishing
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1542035570
• ISBN 13: 9781542035576
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

She was everything everyone else wanted her to be. Until she followed her own path.

Helena Rho was six years old when her family left Seoul, Korea, for America and its opportunities. Years later, her Korean-ness behind her, Helena had everything a model minority was supposed to want: she was married to a white American doctor and had a beautiful home, two children, and a career as an assistant professor of pediatrics. For decades she fulfilled the expectations of others. All the while Helena kept silent about the traumas―both professional and personal―that left her anxious yet determined to escape. It would take a catastrophic event for Helena to abandon her career at the age of forty, recover her Korean identity, and set in motion a journey of self-discovery.

In her powerful and moving memoir, Helena Rho reveals the courage it took to break away from the path that was laid out for her, to assert her presence, and to discover the freedom and joy of finally being herself.

About the Author

Helena Rho is a three-time Pushcart Prize–nominated writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Slate, Sycamore Review, Solstice, Entropy, 805 Lit + Art, and the anthologies Rage and Reconciliation and Silence Kills. A former assistant professor of pediatrics, Helena received her doctor of medicine in 1992 and has practiced and taught at top-ten children’s hospitals: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She earned her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh. For more information, visit www.helenarho.com.