Min Jin Lee follows one family as they reckon with ambition and moderation, love and loyalty, personal dreams and familial duty.

John and Helen Koh and their three children – Bo, DH, and Mido – are building new lives in Korea when they find their worlds upended, first by a betrayal by John’s oldest friend, and then by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Striving to regain their footing, the Kohs set their sights on doing whatever it takes to provide for their children’s futures. They leave Seoul for Sydney and then eventually settle in California, where new opportunities open for the children as their parents adjust to a new existence in which their qualifications mean little. Their way forward is lit by their faith that education will lead the next generation to a success and security that has eluded their parents.

The Kohs, their friends, relatives and even their foes move in and out of each other’s lives as they navigate love, work, fortune and fulfilment across the years. But with each new sacrifice and each fresh horizon, larger questions begin to open up before the children: What are we willing to give up to secure the happiness of the ones we love? And, what is truly important for a worthwhile life?

In American Hagwon, the smallest of gestures can have enormous repercussions and sometimes it is family and friendships alone that can save us.