A review by creativerunnings
The Hard Road Out by Jihyun Park, Seh-Lynn Chai

5.0

I'm always very captivated when it comes to accounts from North Korea. This memoir was no different. At first, I didn't particularly enjoy the interweaving of the translator's South Korean story - on first glance it seemed to be so much less "harrowing", which made me feel like it didn't belong. However, I thought about it more, and the trauma of the Korean separation doesn't just affect the North. And with that, I came to appreciate the South Korean commentary and perspective, also because most often, that kind of thing seems to be suppressed.