The Queen of Tears

Chris McKinney’s The Queen of Tears is the story of Soong Nan Lee, a former Seoul movie star, exploring her familial struggles and her childhood trek across war-torn Korea. Now entering into mass publication, this book demonstrates McKinney’s ability to evoke “Honolulu’s lower depths with an insider’s authority and the zeal of a real writer” (Tom Farber). Declared “the most important young writer in Hawai’i today” by the local press, McKinney exhibits stunning prose and profound explorations of character and interconnection on a level not only warranting, but demanding mainland distribution. The Queen of Tears is a must read for anyone who has, at some point, wrestled with family obligation and personal ambition.