Summary

In the summer of 1977, Hyeonseo's father meets her mother on a train journey. Hyeonseo's father is a military officer stationed in the capital and her mother lives with her family in Hyesan. They court for a years, traveling to see each other, before he asks her to marry him. Although both families have high social status and are considered loyal citizens in the North Korean caste system, the match is opposed by Hyeonseo's grandmother who is "unimpressed with [her] father's prospects and his career in the air force" (7). Instead, Hyeonseo's mother is forced into an arranged marriage with another man. Hyeonseo is conceived during the honeymoon and born in January 1980. Her birth name is Kim Ji-hae.

Hyeonseo's mother leaves her husband not long after the baby is born and a divorce quickly follows. Hyeonseo's grandmother tries to put her up for...