The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story
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The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story
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Narrated by:
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Josie Dunn
About this listen
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.
©2015 Hyeonseo Lee (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedCritic Reviews
"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 on to 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)
What listeners say about The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Claire
- 30-12-2023
How can a human bear this much and keep standing?!
My husband and I listened to this audiobook together and were repeatedly astounded at the life lived, the unrelenting battles at every turn, the brave fight at each threat. Thank you for sharing your story Hyeonseo Lee, you are a remarkable and admirable person. The book was an easy listen with a strong performance by Josie Dunn.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gill Knight
- 11-10-2024
A wonderful story of loyalty, honesty and independence.
A great read that was gripping, inspiring and informative. A true inside story that informs a great deal about North Korea and is inspirational in its core message about courage,generosity and the value of freedom.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- PalomaLLama
- 27-02-2020
Wow! Amazing story
Great story, sometimes I tire of the egos of autobiographers, but this was amazing. I did not enjoy the narrator; I found her much too British for the part. I think a much more neutral accent would have been more appropriate.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mia L.
- 17-08-2022
Great story, terrible choice of narrator
This was a great story deserving of an equally great narrator. This is not to say that for other books, this narrator wouldn’t have been suitable. But for this book, a narrator with a very British accent lacked integrity and, in my opinion, was extremely inauthentic.
The narrator also didn’t seem able to adequately interpret the many characters. I gave up a few times because of her, only returning to the book because it’s such an important story and I felt I owed it to the author to finish.
Amazon, if a book is written by an Asian author then please honour the story and hire the most suitable Asian narrator. You really lack in this area and I would love to see you do better.
Otherwise, a great book that gives a good insight into the daily plight of North Koreans.
(Ps. I wanted to give the narration 0 stars but am now allowed. Apparently I have to give at least 1, so I will give it 1.)
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 06-04-2021
fascinating but oddest choice of narrator
I learnt so much through this book. A gruelling, harrowing tale of survival, many times against all odds. The strangest choice of accent for narration was quite unfortunate and really made me cringe an awful lot.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Strive and Thrive Psychology
- 02-02-2022
Incredible
Incredible bravery. Thank you for sharing your story. So important for the world to understand the plight of North Koreans.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pen name
- 01-08-2021
Superb story, very well written
Awfully read, would have been more suitable for an Asian woman. Content was worth it though
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Samantha Rose
- 01-04-2023
amazing book!
I have the Kindle version of this and have just finished the audio book, which I preferred.
what an incredible woman with an amazing strength of character.
I enjoyed every part of this book and found it hard to stop listening to it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 30-05-2023
Amazing story, odd choice for the narrator
Could not stop listening, amazing story of strength and courage.
The English accent of the narrator was a very odd choice
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