The Girl with Seven Names

Name: The Girl with Seven Names
Brand: Harper UK
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.75 (8 reviews)
Author: Hyeonseo Lee
ISBN: 9780008378806

Author: Hyeonseo Lee, David John

Narrator: Josie Dunn

Unabridged: 10 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: William Collins

Published: 08/02/2019

Categories: Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Memoirs, Women, Political Science, Political Freedom

Synopsis

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.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sung on August 29, 2015

Full Disclosure: I am a South Korean and I have encountered with a number of readings, TED-talks, Youtube videos on life in North Korea, testimonies of North Korean defectors on horrific lives in our neighbor country. However, I found this book intriguing, unique and inspiring. What Hyeonseo offers......more

Goodreads review by Miranda on May 13, 2021

In North Korea the only laws that truly matter, and for which extreme penalties are imposed if they are broken, touch on loyalty to the Kim dynasty.Stunning. Absolutely stunning. Hyeonseo Lee grew up as a loyal and happy citizen of North Korea - the greatest country on earth. Lee grew u......more

Goodreads review by PowerAvocado on December 09, 2024

She lived in a completely different reality. Some things weren't mentioned anywhere, even in school. When she was fifteen she believed if she kissed a boy she could be pregnant. In schools their were taught mainly how flawless their regime was. When she had her first period she panicked because nobo......more

Goodreads review by Barbara on November 28, 2023

Hyeonseo Lee This is the true story of Hyeonseo Lee, a young woman whose escape from North Korea to South Korea - by way of China - was a daring and dangerous adventure. During her extended journey, Hyeonseo had to deal with liars, thieves, extortionists, and gangsters, some of whom were crooked cops......more

Goodreads review by Tina on December 08, 2022

"My name is Hyeonseo Lee." In all honesty, this book is a light read compared to other tales of leaving North Korea. The author must be one of the luckiest people alive; I can't imagine it going that well for anyone else. It makes for one of those harrowing stories that stresses you out (but only a l......more

Quotes

‘The most riveting TED talk ever’ Oprah ‘Hyeonseo Lee brought the human consequences of global inaction on North Korea to the world's doorstep … Against all odds she escaped, survived, and had the courage to speak out’ Samantha Power, U.S. representative to the U.N. ‘This is a powerful story of an escapee from North Korea. In the hallowed meeting rooms of the United Nations in New York, ambassadors from North Korea recently sought to shout down stories like this. But these voices will not be silenced. Eventually freedom will be restored. History will vindicate Hyeonseo Lee and those like her for the risks they ran so that their bodies and their minds could be free. And so that we could know the truth’ Michael Kirby, chair of the U.N. commission on human rights abuses in North Korea ‘When I first met Hyeonseo Lee, the unflinching manner in which she told her story was inspirational. She experienced hunger, coldness, fear, terror, threats and pursuit. All this she had to endure, simply for being a North Korean refugee. But the one thing that she held onto was her humanity, ever stronger as she continuously sublimated her hardships into hope. This is a sad and beautiful story of a girl who could not even keep her name, yet overcome all with the identity of what it is to be human’ Jang Jin-sung, author of ‘Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee – A Look Inside North Korea’