HONG KONG — Mirinae Lee is one of only a few writers from Korea who publish their work in English rather than Korean. This choice isn’t about reaching a larger readership, but rather about the way the language works better as a literary device for her, explained Lee, the author of 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster.
Mirinae Lee's genre-defying debut novel, inspired by her great aunt who defected from North Korea, weaves eight dark yet spellbinding chapters spanning the eight different lives of the main character, Mrs. Mook, who begins her saga by declaring that she was born Japanese (under occupation), lived as a North Korean and is now dying as a South Korean. Lee's "8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster," publ.
From apartheid South Africa to North Korea to the stage of the New York City Ballet, the characters in these three new books imagine themselves in lives other than their own.