Summary of Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 North Korea is a country that has fallen out of the developed world. The country is covered in darkness, which is something that teenagers love. #2 In the late 1990s, North Koreans would meet in the dark to escape the prying eyes of the authorities. The girl would lead her boyfriend to a hot-spring resort outside of town, where the grounds were poorly maintained but the trees were still beautiful. #3 When I met Mi-ran, she was a 31-year old woman living in South Korea.
She had defected six years earlier. I wanted to know what life was like for defectors in North Korea, so I interviewed her. #4 In 2004, Mi-ran was a kindergarten teacher in a mining town in North Korea. She was working toward a graduate degree in education. She had a dream about her boyfriend, a South Korean civilian military employee, who had married her the previous year.