The Girl with Seven Names Audiobook By Hyeonseo Lee, David John cover art

The Girl with Seven Names

A North Korean Defector’s Story

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Girl with Seven Names

By: Hyeonseo Lee, David John
Narrated by: Josie Dunn
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.67

Buy for $24.67

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

New York Times best seller

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 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 17, she decided to escape North Korea. She could not have imagined that it would be 12 years before she was reunited with her family.

©2019 Hyeonseo Lee (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Asia Cultural & Regional Emigration & Immigration Freedom & Security Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government Social Sciences Women World Inspiring Famine Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Thought-Provoking
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup

Critic reviews

"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, US representative to the UN)

"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 UN commission on human rights abuses in North Korea)

Gripping Story • Excellent Narration
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
This book held my attention throughout. There was an element of “what’s going to happen next” throughout! Danger, intrigue, was almost ever-present. I found myself thinking, “what would I do if in this circumstance?” I have so much admiration for the author, her keen mind, and heart. And there were miracles in this story, which I consider divine intervention and tender mercies of the Lord!

Enthralling true story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What is it like to escape North Korea as a teenager and then need to support oneself ? Hide your identity? Not see your mother or brother for more than 10 years? An amazing true story!

Amaxing, true epic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I loved the story! I wish the narrator had a Korean accent instead of British.
I think it would have brought more life and realism into Lee's experiences. Even so, I highly recommend!

wonderful!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Sorry but I'm going to have to take North Korea off my bucket list

favorite book I've read in a long time

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I learned so much about the hardships placed on the North Koreans and their ability to adapt in order to survive. The author tells her story in a riveting way that keeps the reader engaged to the very last page.

Fascinating book about a world few know

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

good story, slow moving at times. plenty of empathy for her experience and that of all refugee's

good story, slow tempo

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I listened from beginning to end. Very inspiring and heart wrenching. A story of curiosity, courage, love and family values. Amazingly done.

Very Captivating

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Interesting to learn more about North Korea and the struggle of one girls escape to freedom.

informative

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

We should all be grateful to the author for her amazing perseverance and her willingness to tell the story. We who live in a mostly free world should never take it for granted, as I feel we often do.

I was particularly interested in her take on how propaganda makes it difficult for people to think their own thoughts and how hard it is to unlearn the falsehoods. this seems very relevant in our Western world today.

Worth every minute of your time and I hope that when you're done you will as I plan to do share this book with others.

A Truth Hard Won

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I learned a great deal about North Korean politics, culture and human constraints that are put into each of us. Thanks!

The girl with 7 names

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews