The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An extraordinary insight into life under one of the world’s most ruthless and secretive dictatorships – and the story of one woman’s terrifying struggle to avoid capture/repatriation and guide her family to freedom. As a child growing up in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee was one of millions trapped by a secretive and brutal communist regime. Her home on the border with China gave her some exposure to the world beyond the confines of the Hermit Kingdom and, as the famine of the 1990s struck, she began to wonder, question and to realise that she had been brainwashed her entire life. Given the repression, poverty and starvation she witnessed surely her country could not be, as she had been told “the best on the planet”? Aged seventeen, she decided to escape North Korea. She could not have imagined that it would be twelve years before she was reunited with her family. In The Girl with Seven Names, Hyeonseo Lee shares her personal and political journey, making this biography a top pick for those interested in understanding the realities of life in North Korea. This autobiography is a testament to her resilience and determination. For fans of Blaine Harden (King of Spies), Masaji Ishikawa (Senza via di scampo. La storia vera dell'incredibile fuga dalla Corea del Nord...), Yeonmi Park (In Order To Live), Suki Kim (Without You, There Is No Us), and Daniel Tudor (North Korea Confidential).