An oxygen chamber. An explosion with fatal consequences. A court case. And lives which will never be the same again. 

Young and Pak Yoo are Korean immigrants who have settled in Virginia, US. They moved there hoping for a better future for their daughter Mary, but Young sometimes wonders if they would have been happier staying in Korea.

But over time, she realized: they weren’t nice; they were politely unfriendly. Young knew the type. Her own mother had belonged to this breed of people who used manners to cover up unfriendliness the way people used perfume to cover up body odor – the worse it was, the more they used.  

Before the accident, Pak and Young ran the Miracle Submarine which offered oxygen treatments to patients, but now they are facing an uncertain future.

Elizabeth, Kitt and Theresa are the mothers of the special-needs children (autism, cerebral palsy) who used to receive oxygen treatments in the Miracle Submarine. Taking care of such a child is demanding and it has completely dominated the lives of these mothers, who have neglected or given low priority to everything else, even their other children. The women will go to any length to make life for their special-needs child as bearable as possible, but the unbelievable pressure they are under may push them close to the edge – or perhaps over the edge? Sometimes ugly thoughts about how life could have been different creep in. These thoughts are taboo though; how can you possibly speak them aloud? How can you even allow yourself to have these thoughts?

“It’s not that I wanted her dead. Of course not. Just thinking about that, I can’t even…” Theresa shut her eyes to squeeze out the terrifying thought. “I prayed for her to live, and she did. I was so grateful – I am. But…”

“But you wonder if this was the right thing to pray for” Elizabeth said.

Matt and Janice are a white/Asian mixed couple who have unsuccessfully been trying for a baby. Matt is receiving oxygen treatments in the hope (of his wife) that it may improve his fertility. The state of their marriage is not great. Besides from the infertility issues, expectations from Matt’s Asian in-laws, cultural differences, and prejudice towards mixed race marriages also contribute to putting a strain on the couple.

How had that happened? He couldn’t remember making the switch; was it like falling off a cliff, and one day, he’d still loved these quirks and the next, he woke up hating them? Or did the charm wear off bit by bit, like a new car’s scent, declining linearly with each hour of marriage’s aging until he’d crossed the line without ever noticing?

The story is built up around the court case which takes place one year after the accident. Through flashbacks the story about the accident and the circumstances surrounding it is covered from different perspectives. Each chapter focuses on one specific character, so the reader gets to know all the key players quite well. Whilst not necessarily agreeing with the actions of every character I could certainly understand their motives and I couldn’t help feeling a degree of empathy towards all of them.

Slowly the layers of lies, misleading interpretations and cover-ups are peeled off and we are left with a truthful version of events. The mystery aspect of the story kept me captivated throughout. I had to know who was responsible for the accident and what their motives were. It is the stories of the individuals though which lift this book above the average courtroom drama. In particular, I found that the dilemmas and issues surrounding the life with a special-needs child were handled in an honest and non-judgemental fashion.

The author is a Korean immigrant herself, she used to be a trial lawyer and she has been through a series of oxygen treatments with one of her sons. I was not aware of that when reading Miracle Creek, but it certainly felt like the story had been written with a great deal of authenticity.  

The structure of the novel is well crafted. The storyline is weaving in and out between present and past, between different characters and between a wide range of difficult topics, but the flow feels natural and unforced and the various topics are an integrated part of the novel.

I had high expectations to Miracle Creek, which it managed to live up to. Four and a half stars, generously rounded up to five.

Title: Miracle Creek [2019]
Author: Angie Kim
Format: e-book 
Genre: Courtroom Drama, Contemporary Fiction