A breathtaking true story of a rescue mission undertaken by a young
woman and her family in one of the most repressive countries in the
world.
Helie Lee often had heard her grandmother speak of an uncle, lost
decades ago when he was a child during the family's daring escape
from North Korea. As an adult, he was still living there under
horrid conditions. When her grandmother began to ail, Helie became
determined to reunite her with her eldest son, despite tremendous
odds. Helie's mission became even more urgent when she realized
that her first book, the bestselling novel Still Life with Rice,
about the family's escape, might have angered the North Korean
government and put her uncle in danger.
Pushing through rivers and forests, fighting the cold, bribing and
manipulating border guards, gangsters, and secret service agents,
Helie and her father finally achieve their goal. But there are many
hurdles. Her uncle is forced to make a harrowing choice: leave his
North Korean family behind or continue to live in oppression and
starvation away from his beloved mother. And Helie has to face her
deep, sometimes ambivalent, emotions about her identity in the
family and as a Korean American woman. Unmarried and outspoken, she
struggles in Korea, where women marry early and keep silent, and
writes eloquently about the landscape there, both literal and
cultural. She comes through a heartbreaking love affair only to
face an intense and confusing relationship with the Guide--the man
who, despite being crude and macho, ultimately helps to save her
uncle and eventually his extended family through several daring
acts of heroism.
In the Absence of Sun is a riveting adventure story and apowerful
tale of family bonds and reunion.
"An eerie fear crawled through my flesh as I stood on the Chinese
side of the Yalu River, gazing across the murky water into one of
the most closed-off and isolated countries in the world. I couldn't
believe it. Even as my boots sank into the doughy mud, I had
trouble coming to terms with the fact that I was actually standing
there. . . . I was not prepared for the kind of despair and insane
fear I felt that day. My wizened old uncle looked nothing like the
sweet-faced teenager in the faded photograph that Halmoni kept
pressed between the pages of her Bible. That day, at the Yalu
River, staring helplessly into his terrorized face, I hadn't fully
realized what a dangerous thing I had done the year before. I had
placed him and his family in danger. By including details of my
uncle's life in a book, I had alerted North Korea's enigmatic
leadership to the identity of my relatives in a nation where it was
better to remain invisible." --From In the Absence of Sun
"From the Hardcover edition.
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