Margaret Pai's book, The Dreams of Two Yi-min, provides vivid glimpses into the early Korean immigrant life of Honolulu. The author is a retired school teacher and writer of Korean ancestry in her mid-seventies residing in Honolulu. The "Two Yi-min" (immigrants) in the title of her book refer to her parents: her mother, Hee Kyung Lee, and her father, Do In Kwon. The book consists of twenty-two short chapters, which are informative and often entertaining. The story is told from the daughter's eye in chronological order as she remembers her family life. With affection and candor, the author unfolds the life histories of her immigrant parents in a semi-fictionalized form.

The book is easy to follow, and the reviewer found the account of the Kwons not only enjoyable and informative but also moving and instructive.

(Excerpt from my review of this book in Korea Journal, 31[3]: 173-175. 1991).