Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story

  • By: Hyeonseo Lee, David John
  • Narrated by: Josie Dunn
  • Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (458 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story cover art

The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story

By: Hyeonseo Lee, David John
Narrated by: Josie Dunn
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £13.00

Buy Now for £13.00

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

A River in Darkness cover art
While Time Remains cover art
The Story of My Life cover art
Trapped in Iran cover art
Finding Home cover art
Without You, There Is No Us cover art
The Hard Road Out cover art
North Korea Confidential cover art
Lunch with Charlotte cover art
In the Wars cover art
Seven Years in Tibet cover art
Call Me American cover art
In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer cover art
The Real North Korea cover art
See You Again in Pyongyang cover art
Assata cover art

Summary

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.

©2015 Hyeonseo Lee (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"The most riveting TED talk ever." (Oprah)
"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)

"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 ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    375
  • 4 Stars
    66
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    310
  • 4 Stars
    65
  • 3 Stars
    30
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    359
  • 4 Stars
    37
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

fascinating

fascinating book about a world and story unknown to most of us. was a lack of emotional expression in the narrators voice but I persevered anyway

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible story

This is the quickest I have gotten through an Audiobook! Hyeonseo’s story is an amazing insight into life in N Korea. I’ve been interested in the country for a long time and this story really opened my eyes to the realities of life there, it gave life and voice to North Korean people. I found Hyeonseo’s story to be inspirational, you become truly invested in her life, her families lives, and their stories. I would recommend to anyone

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Listen

what a story and what an incredible young woman Hyeonseo Lee is. Highly recommend this book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping

What a harrowing, yet fascinating story. It is a must-read if you're interested in the subject of North Korea.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I enjoyed it

Not as tough a story as some but still impressive and brave, a good read

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible and inspiring

I think these are the sorts of books that should be taught in schools. Incredible bravery and courage. Truly inspiring

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

an amazing story

couldn't stop once I got into it, a string female role model full of will and defiance and a huge amount of luck

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gets better and better.... Very humbling......

Amazing person..... What a story.. And I do believe in angels
Apparently four words remaining all gone

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Must read.

This is my 3rd book on a North Korean defector story and I’m gripped. I can’t believe how much they had to go through just for what we all take for granted today: freedom. Even though Hyeonseo Lee didn’t experience poverty like the other defectors I had read about, she definitely went through a storm of struggles throughout her life. Please do read and educate yourselves about what’s going on in North Korea. :(

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant and Moving

A truly gripping and emotional read which offers amazing insight into a hidden and wicked world.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!