Alice Stephens
![Alice Stephens](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/alicestephens.jpg)
Alice Stephens loves to read and write book reviews. Born in Korea, she has lived on four continents and traveled the world. She lives in Maryland with her family and their lovable mutt, Scooter. Her column, Alice in Wordland, is a regular feature on the Independent’s Book Blog. Her debut novel, Famous Adopted People, is published by Unnamed Press (October 2018). To learn more, please visit her website, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and/or like her Facebook page. Or else you can just read her book.
201 entries by Alice Stephens
Woman of Interest: A Memoir
By Tracy O’Neill
![Woman of Interest: A Memoir](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/womanofinterest.png)
A Korean adoptee is a detective on the case of her own origin story.
Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History
By Margaret Juhae Lee
![Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/starryfield.jpg)
An American woman untangles her Korean family’s past.
![Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/relinquished.jpg)
Who gets to be a mom in our patriarchal, capitalist society?
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop: A Novel
By Hwang Bo-reum; translated by Shanna Tan
![Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/welcometothehyunamdongbookshop.jpg)
A bookstore in suburban Seoul brings outsiders together.
Confrontations
By Simone Atangana Bekono; translated by Suzanne Heukensfeldt Jansen
![Confrontations](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/confrontations.jpg)
A Black Dutch girl is driven to commit a shocking act of violence.
![Colorful Palate: A Flavorful Journey through a Mixed American Experience](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/colorfulpalate.jpg)
A food-filled recollection of growing up brown in suburban New York.
8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster
By Mirinae Lee
![8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/8lives.png)
A woman weathers a turbulent, divided Korea by assuming multiple identities.
Y/N
By Esther Yi
![Y/N](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/YN.jpg)
A woman in search of herself becomes obsessed with a K-pop idol.
We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America
By Roxanna Asgarian
![We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/wewereonce.png)
A horribly broken system claims six more victims.
Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea’s Feminist Movement and What It Means for Women’s Rights Worldwide
By Hawon Jung
![Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea’s Feminist Movement and What It Means for Women’s Rights Worldwide](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/flowersoffire.jpg)
Meet fearless activists demanding change.
Dust Child: A Novel
By Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
![Dust Child: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/dustchild.jpg)
A veteran returns to Vietnam to search for those he abandoned.
Skull Water: A Novel
By Heinz Insu Fenkl
![Skull Water: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/Screenshot_(66)_1.png)
A mixed-race boy straddles two worlds in 1970s South Korea.
Cursed Bunny: Stories
By Bora Chung; translated by Anton Hur
![Cursed Bunny: Stories](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/cursedbunny.jpg)
These fractured fairytales mirror a perpetually broken society.
![Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/somewhere.jpg)
What happens when twins from Vietnam are separated and raised apart?
Under My Bed and Other Essays
By Jody Keisner
![Under My Bed and Other Essays](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/undermy.jpg)
The body keeps the score in these reflections on fear and female autonomy.
Chinatown
By Thuận; translated by Nguyễn An Lý
![Chinatown](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/ctown.jpg)
A woman stuck on a Paris train recalls the husband she left behind in Vietnam.
We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies: A Novel
By Tsering Yangzom Lama
![We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/wemeasure.jpg)
This multi-generational saga follows the travails of Tibetan exiles.
She Is Haunted: Stories
By Paige Clark
![She Is Haunted: Stories](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/sheis.jpg)
The long shadow of trauma troubles women navigating love and family.
Sleepwalk: A Novel
By Dan Chaon
![Sleepwalk: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/sleepwalk.jpg)
In a near-future dystopia, a contract killer learns he may have fathered multiple children.
Violets
By Kyung-sook Shin; translated by Anton Hur
![Violets](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/violets.jpg)
After a traumatic childhood, a young woman slowly awakens to friendship and desire.
Border Less: A Novel
By Namrata Poddar
![Border Less: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/borderless.jpg)
A woman’s journey from call-center worker in Mumbai to successful American Desi is told in linked stories.
The Swimmers: A Novel
By Julie Otsuka
![The Swimmers: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/swimmers.jpg)
As a woman slips into dementia, she and her daughter face the end of her life.
Pyre
By Perumal Murugan; translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan
![Pyre](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/pyre.jpg)
A young Tamil man brings his bride to his rural, tradition-bound village.
American Baby
By Gabrielle Glaser
![American Baby](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/americanbaby.jpg)
A woman is forced to relinquish her newborn in this eye-opening look at the dark side of an allegedly benevolent industry.
Lemon: A Novel
By Kwon Yeo-sun; translated by Janet Hong
![Lemon: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/lemon.jpg)
The murder of a high-school student changes the trajectory of three women’s lives.
Skinship: Stories
By Yoon Choi
![Skinship: Stories](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/skinship.jpg)
The Korean American experience is examined in this debut collection.
All Sorrows Can Be Borne: A Novel
By Loren Stephens
![All Sorrows Can Be Borne: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/allsorrows.jpg)
Though based on real events, this tale of a Japanese woman forced to give up her child is surprisingly whitewashed.
Folklorn
By Angela Mi Young Hur
![Folklorn](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/folklorn.jpg)
A Korean American woman struggles to escape the transgenerational trauma that threatens her sanity.
The Guild of the Infant Saviour: An Adopted Child’s Memory Book
By Megan Culhane Galbraith
![The Guild of the Infant Saviour: An Adopted Child’s Memory Book](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/infantsaviour.jpg)
In this hybrid memoir, an artist explores adoption through writing and visual art.
The Lady of Zamalek: A Novel
By Ashraf El-Ashmawi; translated by Peter Daniel
![The Lady of Zamalek: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/ladyof.jpg)
The history of corruption in modern Egypt is encapsulated in this thrilling saga of one family’s rise and fall.
Crying in H Mart: A Memoir
By Michelle Zauner
![Crying in H Mart: A Memoir](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/crying.jpg)
The author seeks to better understand her dying mother and strengthen family ties through food.
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982
By Cho Nam-joo; translated by Jamie Chang
![Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/kimjiyoung.jpg)
A case history of a South Korean Everywoman driven to the brink by misogyny.
Aviary: A Novel
By Deirdre McNamer
![Aviary: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/Aviary_300dpi_RGB.jpg)
A mysterious fire reveals the precarity of elder life in America.
In the Company of Men: A Novel
By Véronique Tadjo
![In the Company of Men: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/inthecompany.jpg)
A moving chronicle of the West African Ebola outbreak narrated by witnesses to the devastation.
Surviving the White Gaze: A Memoir
By Rebecca Carroll
![Surviving the White Gaze: A Memoir](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/surviving-the-white-gaze-9781982116255_lg.jpg)
A transracial adoptee reveals her struggle to build a Black identity in a world of white privilege.
American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption
By Gabrielle Glaser
![American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/americanbaby.jpg)
A woman is forced to relinquish her newborn in this eye-opening look at the dark side of an allegedly benevolent industry.
The Adoption
By Zidrou and Arno Monin; translated by Jeremy Melloul
![The Adoption](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/Screenshot_(445).png)
The grandfather of an adopted girl travels halfway around the world to discover the meaning of family.
Jillian in the Borderlands
By Beth Alvarado
![Jillian in the Borderlands](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/Screenshot_(429).png)
An omniscient, mute girl grows up along the haunted fringes of the American Southwest.
Living Color: Angie Rubio Stories
By Donna Miscolta
![Living Color: Angie Rubio Stories](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/Living-Color-Miscolta-641x1024.jpg)
A Mexican American girl grows up brown and nerdy in 1960s and 70s California.
The Disaster Tourist: A Novel
By Yun Ko-eun; translated by Lizzie Buehler
![The Disaster Tourist: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/Screenshot_(1)_1.png)
A woman plans the ultimate dismal getaway in this dark tale of voracious experiential consumerism.
Fantasy
By Kim-Anh Schreiber
![Fantasy](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/fantasy.jpg)
A woman makes sense of her trauma with the help of a Japanese cult movie.
Why We Swim
By Bonnie Tsui
![Why We Swim](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/whywe.jpg)
An entertaining look at humans’ affinity for moving through water.
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982: A Novel
By Cho Nam-joo; translated by Jamie Chang
![Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/kimjiyoung.jpg)
A case history of a South Korean Everywoman driven to the brink by misogyny.
Run Me to Earth: A Novel
By Paul Yoon
![Run Me to Earth: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/runme.jpg)
The aftermath of a bomb haunts the lives of three Laotian orphans.
Night Theater: A Novel
By Vikram Paralkar
![Night Theater: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/nighttheater.png)
A surgeon in rural India operates on a family of corpses to give them a second chance at life.
Labyrinth: A Novel
By Burhan Sönmez; translated by Űmit Hussein
![Labyrinth: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/labyrinth.jpeg)
A man attempts to reclaim his identity after losing his memory in a suicide attempt.
Accommodations
By Wioletta Greg; translated by Jennifer Croft
![Accommodations](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/accommodations.jpg)
A young woman comes of age in post-Communist Poland.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation
By Ottessa Moshfegh
![My Year of Rest and Relaxation](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/myyear.jpg)
A wounded young woman tries to sleep her way through 12 straight months.
China Dream: A Novel
By Ma Jian; translated by Flora Drew
![China Dream: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/chinadream.jpg)
An ambitious apparatchik can’t keep his dark past from intruding on the present.
First Person
By Richard Flanagan
![First Person](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/first_person.jpg)
While ghostwriting the memoir of a notorious criminal, an aspiring novelist battles for his very soul.
The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth: A Novel
By Veeraporn Nitiprapha; translated by Kong Rithdee
![The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/blindearthworm.jpg)
This lush, extravagant tale offers a rare glimpse into the torrid heart of modern Thailand.
A People’s History of Heaven: A Novel
By Mathangi Subramanian
![A People’s History of Heaven: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/peopleshistory.jpg)
A group of friends use girl power to save their Bangalore slum from destruction.
Notes from a Black Woman’s Diary: Selected Works of Kathleen Collins
By Kathleen Collins
![Notes from a Black Woman’s Diary: Selected Works of Kathleen Collins](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/blackwoman.jpg)
A treasure trove of thoughts by a pioneering writer who challenged stereotypes of middle-class African Americans.
Training School for Negro Girls
By Camille Acker
![Training School for Negro Girls](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/trainingschool.jpg)
This powerful collection is set against the backdrop of a changing Washington, DC.
Goodbye, Vitamin
By Rachel Khong
![Goodbye, Vitamin](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/goodbyevitamin.jpg)
A young woman returns home to care for her ailing father in this millennial coming-of-age story.
Mr. and Mrs. American Pie: A Novel
By Juliet McDaniel
![Mr. and Mrs. American Pie: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/americanpie.jpg)
In this fun beach read, a jilted housewife goes on a madcap journey to win a Palm Springs pageant.
Immigrant, Montana: A Novel
By Amitava Kumar
![Immigrant, Montana: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/immigrant.jpg)
A student from India comes to America seeking an education of the head and heart.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation: A Novel
By Ottessa Moshfegh
![My Year of Rest and Relaxation: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/myyear.jpg)
A wounded young woman tries to sleep her way through 12 straight months.
Kudos: A Novel
By Rachel Cusk
![Kudos: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/kudos.jpg)
In this final installment of a trilogy, the narrator observes the international book-festival circuit.
First Person: A Novel
By Richard Flanagan
![First Person: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/first_person.jpg)
While ghostwriting the memoir of a notorious criminal, an aspiring novelist battles for his very soul.
South and West
By Joan Didion
![South and West](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/southandwest.jpg)
Occasional flashes of brilliance can't save this flimsy collection unworthy of its author.
One Good Mama Bone
By Bren McClain
![One Good Mama Bone](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/mamabone.jpg)
The 1950s Deep South comes alive in this folkloric tale of love, sacrifice, and redemption.
Good Neighbors: A Novel
By Joanne Serling
![Good Neighbors: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/goodneighbors.jpg)
A tight-knit group of friends must confront unsettling truths about themselves after one couple adopts a child.
A Separation
By Katie Kitamura
![A Separation](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/separation.jpg)
If love is a mystery, divorce is a thriller.
Everything Here Is Beautiful: A Novel
By Mira T. Lee
![Everything Here Is Beautiful: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/everythinghere.jpg)
A tender portrayal of the effects of mental illness on a woman and the people who love her.