Before she met Il-sun in an orphanage, Gyong-ho was a hollow husk of a girl, raised in one of North Korea's forced-labor camps. A mathematical genius, she has learned to cope with the past and present by escaping into a realm of numbers and calculations. Gyong-ho becomes enamored of the brash and radiant Il-sun. But Il-sun's pursuit of a better life imperils both girls when her suitor spirits them across the Demilitarized Zone and sells them as sex workers
Originally published: London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2012
