The Defections

Seoul, South Korea. Mia is an outsider. The child of an English mother, she defies the rigid expectations of her Korean stepmother to work as a translator at the British Embassy. Her uncle runs a charitable - and controversial - school for North Korean defectors, and prevails upon Mia's stepmother to shelter a traumatised young student. Mia is too preoccupied to note the defector's strange behaviour - or its implications. She has become infatuated with Thomas, a diplomat with a self-destructive streak. When an outrageous indiscretion endangers his position, it is Mia who saves him from humiliation and rescues his career. And the boundaries between them are crossed. As a reward for his reformation, Thomas is commissioned to audit security amongst Embassy staff. Learning of Mia's connections to the defector, he is compelled 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.

About the Author :
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. Her first novel, The Defections, was published in 2014.

Review :
This stunning first novel is a fascinating portrait of a divided country, seething with prejudice and intrigue; Michell, who grew up in Seoul, takes the reader deep into the desperate, dangerous underground routes of the defectors from the North Excellent . . . Written in crisp prose, Michell's novel deftly weaves the tale of Mia's torrid romance with the political history of the Korean peninsula. But in many ways her presentation of the British expatriates is more intriguing: like the embittered colonials in the stories of Graham Greene, Michell's Brits are both arrogant and insecure This is an impressively layered and carefully constructed novel, its characters caught between languages, loyalties and worlds . . . Michell's portrait of Seoul fascinates: its dust and neon, sweat and suspicion. But what catches you by surprise is the slowly-revealed audacity of her plot as suspicions and misunderstandings escalate into an international crisis. Having already earned comparison to Ian McEwan, she's an author worth watching 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 Michell reveals herself not only as a perceptive observer of character, but a writer capable of exploring big ideas The author grew up in Seoul and has used her own experience as an outsider to write this fantastic first novel . . . The thriller element of the story moves at a belting pace Michell's portrait of Seoul fascinates: its dust and neon, sweat and suspicion. An impressively layered and carefully constructed novel . . . an author worth watching This stunning first novel is a fascinating portrait of a divided country, seething with prejudice and intrigue; Michell, who grew up in Seoul, takes the reader deep into the desperate, dangerous underground routes of the defectors from the North 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' Excellent . . . Written in crisp prose, Michell's novel deftly weaves the tale of Mia's torrid romance with the political history of the Korean peninsula. But in many ways her presentation of the British expatriates is more intriguing: like the embittered colonials in the stories of Graham Greene, Michell's Brits are both arrogant and insecure Michell reveals herself not only as a perceptive observer of character, but a writer capable of exploring big ideas . . . Damaged, flawed Mia is a compelling protagonist Fantastic . . . The thriller element of the story moves at a belting pace