Imprint
- Virago
- Virago
- Virago
8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster: Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024
Mirinae Lee
North Korea, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Second World War fiction, Korean War
A dazzlingly original, moving and thought-provoking novel about one woman's struggle to survive throughout a century of Korean history
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
SLAVE. ESCAPE-ARTIST. MURDERER. TERRORIST. SPY. LOVER. MOTHER. TRICKSTER.
At the Golden Sunset retirement home, it is not unusual for residents to invent stories. So when elderly Ms Mook first begins to unspool her memories, the obituarist listening to her is sceptical. Stories of captivity, friendship, murder, assumed identities and spying. A life that moves from WWII Indonesia to Busan during the Korean war; from cold-war Pyongyang to a Protestant church in China. The adventures are so colourful and various, at times so unbelievable. Surely they can't all belong to the same woman. Can they?
8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024, announced on 5th March 2024.
Praise for 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster: Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024
-
Mesmerising, heartbreaking ... a wild ride of a novel
-
Soaring, fierce, bold and intoxicating
-
A dazzling, visceral read. Intricately woven and playful, the prose has a brutal beating energy. At its heart is the fascinating Ms Mook, and the kaleidoscope of her life is a captivating history of Korea, a country torn apart
-
Fantastically original doesn't begin to describe this exhilarating, globe-spanning, decade-hopping masterpiece. Lee has achieved the impossible - from a fractured century of agonies and betrayals, she has woven a novel of immense beauty and regeneration
-
Unflinching and tender, philosophical and mischievous, this playful novel conveys a sense of Korea's turbulent twentieth century through a charming, compelling protagonist who is not always a reliable narrator but who tells the truths that matter. I was captivated by Lee's masterful storytelling
-
Interrogates love, identity, betrayal, and everything it takes for one shape-shifting "trickster" to survive. Lee writes with sharp, ferocious energy, and I was riveted from the first page.
-
Cross-dressing, spying, identity theft, motherhood and murder ... A dazzling feat of narrative sophistication and historical invention - Financial Times
-
A gripping story set against the backdrop of Korea's turbulent history ... brilliant and original - Washington Post
Discover more
Mirinae Lee
Mirinae Lee was born and raised in South Korea, and now lives in Hong Kong. Her first work of fiction appeared in the Antioch Review and was listed as Notable Nonrequired Reading of 2018 in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019. Her second short story won the 2018 Editors' Prize in Fiction and appeared in Meridian. 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster is her debut novel.
Find a book you’ll love, get our Word Up newsletter
.png?auto=compress&w=150&h=60&fit=crop&fm=jpg)
.png?auto=compress&w=150&h=60&fit=crop&fm=jpg)
Hachette Australia acknowledges and pays our respects to the past, present and future Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Our head office is located on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation.
