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Summary: The first novel about present-day North Korea to be published in the West. A true-to-life tale of courage and exile, it follows the adventures of an orphaned young woman, Jia, who has the grace of a dancer but the misfortune of coming from a politically suspect family. Leaving her village Jia must carve a path for herself. Along the way she falls in love with a soldier, befriends beggars, is kidnapped, beaten and sold, negotiates Chinese culture and learns to balance cruel necessity with the possibilities of kindness and love.