Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

The Goodreads summary says:
"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.

She could not return, since rumours of her escape were spreading, and she and her family could incur the punishments of the government authorities – involving imprisonment, torture, and possible public execution. Hyeonseo instead remained in China and rapidly learned Chinese in an effort to adapt and survive. Twelve years and two lifetimes later, she would return to the North Korean border in a daring mission to spirit her mother and brother to South Korea, on one of the most arduous, costly and dangerous journeys imaginable.

This is the unique story not only of Hyeonseo’s escape from the darkness into the light, but also of her coming of age, education and the resolve she found to rebuild her life – not once, but twice – first in China, then in South Korea. Strong, brave and eloquent, this memoir is a triumph of her remarkable spirit."

This was my choice for week 36: An identity book. It was also nominated for the Goodread's choice awards 2015 in the category Autobiography/memoir. And being an autobiography only makes the book even more interesting. I can't imagine how it must be like living in a country like North Korea, but this book certainly does a good job in descriping their lives and struggles.

I chose it for this topic because I think it has a lot to do with identity and finding yourself. The title of the books says a lot. "The girl with seven names" - A girl with seven different identities.
In an oppressing society like in North Korea you hardly get to choose your own identity, but if you flee from the country you have to make up a new identity, and you have to adjust to a new culture. It can't be easy, and this book does a great job telling about the struggles and troubles living under and fleeing from a dictaturship.

Sounds interesting! Speaking of North Korea, there's an interesting documentary on Netflix, and it's worth watching. I don't know what to think after having seen it, because obviously it's a different culture, yet when they claim to have choices etc., someone is lying as well as telling truths. The question is who.