The Defections

by Hannah Michell

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.

Buy on Amazon Buy on Waterstones.com

*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.

Pub Date 2 Jan 2014 | Archive Date 21 Jan 2014

Description

Seoul, South Korea.

Mia is an outsider. The child of an English mother, she has been brought up by her stepmother, and her uncle, who runs a charitable - and controversial - school for North Korean defectors.

In her work as a translator at the British Embassy, she has become infatuated with Thomas, a diplomat with a self-destructive character. When an outrageous indiscretion endangers Thomas' position, she saves him from humiliation and rescues his career.

As a reward for his new-found rectitude, Thomas is asked to produce an audit on security among the Embassy staff. Learning of Mia's connections to the defectors' school, he is forced to dig deeper into the life of the woman who has captivated him...

Suddenly, all that Mia has done to get close to Thomas begins to cause her undoing.

This digital proof edition is only available to NetGalley users in the UK.

Seoul, South Korea.

Mia is an outsider. The child of an English mother, she has been brought up by her stepmother, and her uncle, who runs a charitable - and controversial - school for North Korean...

A Note From the Publisher

Hannah Michell was born in Yorkshire in 1983 and grew up in Seoul, South Korea. She studied Philosophy and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, then received an MA in Creative Writing from City University. She has worked for the Economist, Penguin Books and now lectures on Korean pop culture at the University of California, Berkeley. The Defections is her first novel.

Hannah Michell was born in Yorkshire in 1983 and grew up in Seoul, South Korea. She studied Philosophy and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, then received an MA in Creative Writing from...

Advance Praise

'One of the most compelling, haunting and thrilling debuts I have ever read. It is a book of betrayals and borders, real and imagined, and of deceptions and desires which beautifully and dramatically evokes the spectres of Korea's past and the divisions of its present in ways reminiscent of The Quiet American or McEwan's The Innocent' David Peace