Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Adult fiction author Joanne Yi’s debut novel All the Tomorrows After hits the shelves on August 19.
The story follows Korean-American teen Winter Moon, a girl in a troubled household. She is saving money in hopes of escaping with her terminally ill grandmother and living a better life.
However, Winter’s spiteful mother steals her money and blows through it all in one day, forcing the young girl to return to her estranged father, who reappears after being absent for more than a decade. The two agree that Winter would spend time with him in exchange for payment.
In an interview, the author said she took inspiration from her own grief journey and heritage, explaining that she lost her father to terminal illness, and that anticipatory grief did not prepare her as she knew and rejected his fate.
“I’ve spent most of my adulthood trying to find the right words. What I’ve learned is that there are none, really, to articulate a loved one’s slow and inevitable deterioration,” Joanne explained.
“All the Tomorrows After is shaped by our journey, which began in the absence of hope and continues in the absence of a farewell. It is inspired by my father, his battle to maintain his identity, and our family’s experiences as caregivers. It is a reflection of myself as a young adult navigating grief, guilt, and isolation,” she added.
