Hyeonseo Lee

Hyeonseo Lee is the book's author, main character, and titular "Girl With Seven Names." Born to a high status family in North Korea, she had a comfortable and pleasant childhood, unusually free from the daily poverty and hardship experienced by other North Koreans. As a teenager, Hyeonseo begins to experience disillusionment with North Korean society and longs to express her individualism more fully. This, combined with a natural curiosity and interest in the outside world, is what prompts her to take her fateful trip across the river to China at the age of seventeen.

From an early age, Hyeonseo has struggled with issues of identity. This begins when she discovers that her father is not her biological parent. Her struggle with identity continues in her teenage years through her desire to express individualism in a country which demands egalitarianism in all domains. As a teen, this...