8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster: The international bestseller

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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, adventure, assumed identities and spying. Stories that take place in WWII Indonesia; in Busan during the Korean war; in cold-war Pyongyang; in China. The stories are so colourful and various, at times so unbelievable, that they cannot surely all belong to the same woman. Can they

As playful and thought-provoking as it is compelling, as brutal and harrowing as it is achingly poignant and tender, this is a novel about love and war, deceit and betrayal, about identity, storytelling and the trickery required for survival.

Reviews

Enthralling, captivating, tantalising ... keeps readers hooked * New York Times *
A gripping story set against the backdrop of Korea's turbulent history ... brilliant and original * Washington Post *
Seven accounts, told achronologically and ranging from 1938 to 2006, reveal a series of startling transformations involving cross-dressing, spying, identity theft, motherhood and murder ... A dazzling feat of narrative sophistication and historical invention * Financial Times *
A wild ride of a novel that embodies twentieth-century Korean history through the mesmerising, heartbreaking and deeply fractured personal history of one woman and her many incarnations. -- Monica Ali
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 -- Catherine Cho, author of Inferno
In Mirinae Lee's 8-lives of a Century-Old Trickster, a sly, flinty protagonist summons all of her charm to survive one hundred years of tumult, espionage, and war. I have never put so much trust in a verified liar. Part spy novel, part ode to storytelling, Lee's debut captivated and surprised me. -- Alyssa Songsiridej, author of Little Rabbit
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 -- Melissa Fu, author of Peach Blossom Spring
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 -- Junot Daz
A stunning debut from Mirinae Lee, 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster follows the incredible life of a woman, a shapeshifter, as she battles life near the North Korean border during the most turbulent times in Korean history. Lee is a master at storytelling, weaving the eight stories in a way that leaves you with questions, only to answer them with scenes that are sometimes horrific, sometimes touching, but always riveting -- Lyn Liao Butler, author of Red Thread of Fate
Mirinae Lee has magically created a new literary form, one that deftly weaves political intrigue, lyrical narration, sensuous description, and subtle humour. In her heroine's tender, harrowing reclaiming of her traumatized body, the reader, too, finds healing. 8 Lives packs the spellbinding, page-turning punch of a spy thriller while quietly delivering the lilting insights of Carmen Mara Machado and Ocean Vuong. Lee's debut marks the arrival of a riveting new voice on the global literary stage -- Brittani Sonnenberg, author of Home Leave
Mirinae Lee has created an unforgettable character and a bold, inventive narrative that takes us through history. But don't underestimate 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster; this astonishing, compassionate, and ambitious novel is more than story. Lee cares about how the story is told as much as the story itself. What an incredible debut. * Krys Lee, author of How I Became A North Korean *
A turbulent novel traversing decades of Korean history, 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster 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. An exquisitely accomplished debut -- Mira T. Lee, author of Everything Here is Beautiful
Chilling, bold and masterful, Lee's dazzling debut slams into the head and the heart with dizzying, visceral force and commanding skill. Intricately and inventively plotted, 8 Lives of a Century-old Trickster is hard-wired with tension and suspense and bound tight with history -- Kimberly Elkins, author of What Is Visible
Reading 8 Lives is like eating earth: unapologetically rebellious, breathtakingly exhilarating, and deeply painful. Korea's turbulent modern history as its backdrop, each story is artfully told through a magnetic character who embodies the peninsula's dark and complex past. Lee's debut is a gift to all storytellers of diasporic imagination -- Joseph Juhn, director of Chosen
The atrocity and suffering interwoven in these pages tell the splintered history of war and violence in twentieth-century Korea that keeps me awake at night. Mirinae Lee unravels human intentions and actions with devastating details, reminding us of many hearts of darkness. What's most striking, however, is the trust invested in the power of storytelling. The interlocking lives in the novel read like scar tissues that reopen and close. A mutual understanding is established as we re-examine the wounds that won't heal until they find their voice, until we listen. -- Kit Fan, author of Diamond Hill
Soaring, fierce, bold, and intoxicating, 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster draws an unforgettable portrait of a Korean woman navigating her place in the world over the course of almost a hundred years. Lives that have been ruptured by war, totalitarianism, and unexpected family discoveries are explored with razor-sharp insight and shimmering detail. The lies we tell, the particles of pleasure we find amidst the pain, and how deception and the power of storytelling can lead us to our truest selves are all explored with phenomenal skill. An absolutely astonishing work of art -- Marjan Kamali, author of The Stationery Shop of Tehran
Outstanding ... enticing, profound and deeply moving. By the end, the reader is left with an intensely vivid picture of both North and South Korea during the mid-20th century, throughout multiple wars and times of national chaos * Bookpage (USA) *
Lee's beautiful novel is a tale of survival, trauma, and love in the midst of modern Korea's most tumultuous times. Her metaphorical and lyrical language, brutal and unsettling storytelling, and masterful prose will keep readers hooked until the very end * Booklist (USA) *
Smart, complex, inventive, melancholy * Kirkus (USA) *
A beguiling, complex tale of love and survival that will keep you riveted-and speculating-until the very end, thanks to Lee's brilliant talent for sleight of hand * Tor.com *
Despite the darkness of the history it retells, this is primarily an adventure novel, fueled by the same righteous anger that turns ordinary mortals into masked superheroes * Wall Street Journal *
Grandma Mook ... has murdered four men, deceived her husband, and is a wanted terrorist. And yet, in a dazzling feat of storytelling, she is a lovable character. Her tales of brutality, grit, hope, love, and redemption are too fantastic to be untrue. This is a cracking good read, rich with social commentary and historical detail. * Historical Novel Society *

Author Bio

Mirinae Lee grew up in Seoul. Her short fiction has appeared in the Antioch Review, Meridian, Black Warrior Review, Pleiades, Shenandoah, and the Massachusetts Review. She lives in Hong Kong with her husband and children. 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster is her first novel. It has been published in the UK, the US and Italy and was a top-ten bestseller in Italy.