Summary of Jihyun Park & Seh-lynn Chai's The Hard Road Out

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I must tell my son why I can’t simply say, I didn’t abandon you. I must explain to him why I can’t find the words. I must tell him my story. #2 My father, Park Seong-il, was a tractor-excavator operator. My mother, Ro Eun-sook, had worked in the same factory as him, but after they married she chose to become an ajumma, or housewife. My father had spotted her early on, and he wanted to marry her. #3 I was born in 1968, but in North Korea, we don’t celebrate children’s birthdays. Only the birthday of Kim Il-sung, on 15 April, is celebrated. But every 30 July, I was entitled to a bowl of rice. #4 I was sent to live with my grandmother, Halmeoni, when I was four years old. She was a very poor widow. By the side of the road, a few women were hard at work repairing the roads that had been eroded by the rain.