The Hard Road Out

Powerful account of one woman's harrowing escape from North Korea. The author experienced some truly horrific and unimaginable things, and exposes more about what life is truly like for North Koreans in this book. The ending felt a bit abrupt and the few chapters solely by Seh-lynn Chai felt a bit random and took away from the flow of the writing. Overall, it was a very engaging and eye opening read.

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

How does one, from a place of privilage and comfort, even begin to discuss the impact of this book? THE HARD ROAD OUT details the harrowing life of Jihyun Park, who grew up in North Korea during the 1970s and 80s. She and her family lived through the Great Famine during the 1990s, the death of Kim Jung-il, and the daily attrocities that come with living in a long-standing dictatorship.

Park, through translator Seh-lynn Chai, talks about growing up not always knowing where the next meal will come from, her mother's entreprenural spirit and how it both endangered her life and saved her family's, the utter devotion towards the regime slowly rotting away as her students began to starve, and the heartbreaking reality of being sold by your older sister into sexual slavery. Park's story is nothing short of heartbreaking, while also being an example of the resilience and overarching kindness of humanity.

While Park never goes into minute detail about her life story, often skipping large chunks of her life to the next big event, this story is not for anyone looking for a sensitized version of what is happening in North Korea. Additionally, interspersed throughout, is added commentary by Chai discussing her own experience in writing this book with Park and the attitudes towards Korean Unification.

From a purely editorial angle, I personally wish Chai's chapters were more distinguishingly marked as seperate from Park's story. It was often jarring to go from 1990s North Korea to modern day England without even a title to warn you. I also wish the ending was less abrupt-- I felt very invested in Park and her son's journey towards South Korea, only to find out what happened in the epilouge rather than the book itself.

All that said, THE HARD ROAD OUT is a must read.

This is another remarkable story about a North Korean woman growing up in an inhumane and oppressive culture. Jihyun is a stalwart and responsible student who follows the teachings of the ruling party. When she becomes a teacher and finally sees the flaws in the society she grew up in she decides to leave. Leaving North Korea is not as easy as she hoped as she is immediately sold into slavery by members of her own family, upon her arrival in China.

The Hard Road Out is a memoir of courage, perseverance, and hope where readers are given a glimpse into life in North Korea and what the hard-working citizens must go through. Despite the harrowing ordeal to leave the country of her birth, Jihyun eventually builds a life for herself and her family in the UK. I recommend this book as another fascinating read about a strong and determined woman to overcome life's difficulties.

I have been on a nonfiction kick recently and this one stood out for many reasons. I loved the honesty and emotion. I felt like I was in the moment with the author and I felt like the articulation of the circumstances were easy to understand which I appreciated with such a complex issue.

The Hard Road Out recounts one woman’s harrowing escape from North Korea, not once, but twice. This riveting memoir details Jihyun Park’s childhood growing up in North Korea, and her later humanly impossible escape from her country over the course of several years. It provides us with a rare glimpse of what daily life was like in North Korea and an account from a survivor who made it to the other side.

Park’s childhood, although very different from the outside world, was overall a happy one: playing games, such as “kill the Americans“, with other kids, living with her loving grandmother in the countryside, and secretly devouring pork with her family from her mother’s pork-raising “side business“ masked by the effort to help feed the military. Her father was a factory worker, and her mother was a community caretaker while hustling under the table to provide more for the family. Despite her family’s seemingly stable roles, her grandfather’s earlier escape to South Korea brought her family bad songbun (social rank). As a result, both Park nor her sister could not go to the top universities in the country, and visits from the government were often.

Shortly after Park became an elementary school teacher in her hometown in the 1990s, the North Korean famine started and left millions dying on the streets, including many of her students. When people died from hunger then, the official death certificates always showed the cause of death as another disease, such as measles or tuberculosis, because “one does not die of hunger in a socialist country.“

The famine also depleted everything that Park’s family had. She finally made up her mind to escape with her sister’s family after her uncle’s death, leaving their father on his deathbed. Park’s arduous escape from North Korea took her several years, experiencing the most traumatizing events along the way, including slavery, rape, sexual assault, and family betrayal before she was finally able to claim asylum in the UK in 2008.

This book is co-written by two authors, Jihyun Park, to whom this book’s story belongs, and Seh-Lynn Chai, a South Korean author now living in London who typed up the story that Park told her. The bulk of the book is told in Park’s voice (although written by Chai), with the occasional voice switching back to Chai. Chai describes their initial encounter at a human rights event that sparked this collaborative book project and her perspectives on Park’s story as someone born and raised in South Korea. Chai’s narration, in my opinion, carries a subtle saviorism undertone. As if by writing Park’s story that was told to her, Chai becomes the person that gives Park a voice.

However, Chai’s voice only consists of a very small part of the book and does not discount this book’s strong narrative and its rare, gripping story. I hope you check it out when it comes out on January 31, 2023.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This is a very touching and emotional story about how to women from warring countries came together and became the sisters both of them needed. So as not to spell the names wrong I’m going to refer to them as CNJ. Jcrew up in North Korea and hearing her story of childhood and growing up with her siblings it doesn’t seem much different from anyone else’s story but it seems the older she got the worth of God in the more she questioned it her story of leaving North Korea and then going back to get her son it’s such a harrowing story and one I couldn’t stop reading but her and see‘s story of becoming friends was so heartwarming and reminded me of the video where the little kids from Iran were playing football with the little kids from Iraq while the parents were inside of an office arguing about who was right and who was wrong. Because while see was intimidated to talk to JN even wanted to double check to make sure she wouldn’t be in trouble for spying in her country of South Korea before doing it she finally did it engaged not only a new experience with a new sister. I have so many great aspects to this book and all I can say is read it for yourself. If you love a great ending you’ll love the story it reads like fiction but it is nonfiction at its best. There was even a twist I didn’t know was coming for those of us who love added intrigue on it already interesting tail. I love the The writing style in the way the story was told from both ladies opinions it is just an all-around five star read and one I truly love and will definitely be reading again in the future. This is one of those books you save for those days when you feel down and need a pick me up I just want to thank the author for writing this great book and sharing her and Jay’s story. I received this great book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This is a riveting memoir of a woman's childhood in and ultimate escape from North Korea. The book is well-written and fast-paced. I do wish the book had covered more about her life after escaping and how she has coped with the long-term physical and psychological impacts of the conditions she endured. I highly recommend reading this book to get an unfiltered view of life in North Korea.

This is a very powerful read that gives the world yet another view of North Korea and even more details about what life is like for families living there. It has horrifying details about the suffering and starvation of the 1990s era. I would have liked the book to go on a few chapters longer as the ending seemed abrupt, but I can imagine how difficult it is for the author to even be remembering and writing her story.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It is an important addition to works that shed light on life in North Korea.

Enthralling and intimate portrait of one woman's life and journey out of North Korea.

Top nonfiction book of 2023 to date for me!

Top Book Club Pick for 2023!

As a child, Jihyun Park is one of the lucky ones. Born to a father with good "songbun" (status), she is able to get an education and mostly has enough to eat. She has loving parents. She believes all the indoctrination taught to her. But at some point she starts to notice the inconsistencies, the outright hypocrisy, and all the fear that is keeping her society together. When famine hits in the 1990s, her world starts to crumble.

I have read several stories about North Koreans who found a way "out". This particular memoir rates highly for me because it is

1) accessible even to those who don't know a lot about North Korea
2) it portrays the atrocities against Jihyun and other friends and family in a way even teens could read (specifically, while mentioning violence and sexual trauma, it is not in a graphic way)
3) it reaches into her heart and mind as she grapples with the "why" of how people acted
4) it has as translator/co-author Seh-lynn Chai, a South Korea, and getting her perspective was very helpful

I found it to be quite sad and moving but still hopeful. I am recommending this to one of my book clubs as it will offer a LOT to discuss as well as being informative.

Jihyun Park's breathtaking memoir is about her childhood and her harrowing escape from North Korea. I expected this to be a hard read, but this book changed my outlook on this piece of the world - on equality and on humanity.

This was written by Seh-lynn Chai, a South Korean woman who became friends with Jihyun after an interview awhile back. The friendship between the two women is like carefully woven thread beautifully intertwined and is shown throughout this book.

This eye-opening memoir is such a gorgeous, heartbreaking story and I am so thankful to have read it.

A horrific look at the authors life in Korea and finally her terrifying escape.This is a raw intimate look at her life and the terrors she suffered.A book that will stay with you.#netgalley #thehardroadout.

The Hard Road Out: One Woman’s Escape From North Korea by Jihyun Park and Seh-lynn Chai was the first book about North Korea that I have ever read, and it certainly will not be the last. This was devastating and heartbreaking, yet full of glimmers of hope. A must read!