Books by Yeonmi Park

'I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea.'Yeonmi Park was not dreaming of freedom when she escaped from North Korea. She didn't even know what it meant to be free. All she knew was that she was running for her life, that if she and her family stayed behind they would die - from starvation, or disease, or even execution. This book is the story of Park's struggle to survive in the darkest, most repressive country on earth; her harrowing escape through China's underworld of smugglers and human traffickers; and then her escape from China across the Gobi desert to Mongolia, with only the stars to guide her way, and from there to South Korea and at last to freedom; and finally her emergence as a leading human rights activist - all before her 21st birthday.'Clear-eyed and devastating' Observer

Yeonmi Park voksede op i den tro, at det var helt normalt at se lig i affaldsdyngerne på vej til skole, at være så sulten, at man spiste vilde planter, og at naboer ’forsvandt’ uden varsel. Hun var overbevist om, at Den Kære Leder kunne læse hendes tanker - og straffe hende tilsvarende. Som 13-årig, da hungersnød og fængslingen af Yeonmis far gjorde livet utåleligt, tog hun og hendes familie en livsfarlig beslutning: at flygte fra Nordkorea og krydse over den tilfrosne Yaluflod til Kina - blot for at havne direkte i hænderne på menneskehandlere. Efter næsten to år i kløerne på brutale kinesiske kidnappere udfordrede Yeaonmi og hendes mor atter døden i et sidste desperat flugtforsøg. De flygtede tværs gennem gobiørkenen i den frysende nat med stjernerne som eneste vejviser mod friheden. Yeonmi fortæller for første gang hele sin forbløffende historie. For at kunne leve er et vidnesbyrd om den menneskelige ånds ukuelighed og en udforskning af de risici, vi er villige til at løbe for at opnå frihed.