A young North Korean couple's quest for freedom comes at a tragically high cost. It's the late 1990s, North Korea. Kim Jong-il is the Supreme Leader, revered among his people. Despite famine ravaging parts of the country, his grip on power remains absolute. Jin comes from an impoverished rural family suffering from hunger. He has been fortunate to win a scholarship to Kim Il-sung university in Pyongyang, where a daily food ration is assured. It is there he meets Suja. Her family is well connected, her father employed at Rodong newspaper, a part of the Korean Central News Agency. A romance soon blooms between Jin and Suja. On a trip back to visit his family, Jin discovers that the police are raiding food supplies from starving peasants. In an effort to report what he believes is a crime, he instead gets caught with a bag of cornmeal and is mistaken for a thief. Stealing food in North Korea is a heinous crime, punishable by forced labour. Eventually Jin is caught, humiliated in front of his university class, and ends up in the notorious Yodok prison camp. Suja is devastated. She vows to meet with Jin, no matter what it takes. What follows is a journey for both that will see them pushed to the very brink. Ann Shin is a Canadian filmmaker and poet who has worked with North Korean exiles. The Last Exiles, her debut novel, works as a heart-stopping thriller, inspired by real events. Shin is a storyteller of great clarity, carefully wending the reader through a labyrinth of nightmare scenarios: sex slavery, beatings, murder, starvation and every known humiliation under the sun. It's a story of great tragedy, unflinching in its realism, but one that holds out a glimmer of hope. Suja and Jin go through much on their journey, and come out the other side resilient, yet damaged young people nonetheless. The book also offers a stark education into the realities of life in North Korea, the climate of fear and devotion to the “Dear Leader” that keeps the regime in power. Gripping suspense and idealistic young love in a story that addresses serious human rights issues. The Last Exiles, by Ann Shin. Published by HarperCollins. $29.99 Comments are closed.
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