8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster

'Heartbreaking' Monica Ali'Intoxicating' Marjan Kamali, author of The Stationery Shop of Tehran'Dazzling' Catherine Cho, author of Inferno'I have never put so much trust in a verified liar' Alyssa Songsiridej, author of Little RabbitSLAVE. ESCAPE-ARTIST. MURDERER. TERRORIST. SPY. LOVER. MOTHER. TRICKSTER.At the Golden Sunset retirement home, it is not unusual for residents to invent stories. So when elderly Ms Mook first begins to unspool her memories, the obituarist listening to her is sceptical. Stories of captivity, friendship, murder, adventure, assumed identities and spying. Stories that take place in WWII Indonesia; in Busan during the Korean war; in cold-war Pyongyang; in China. The stories are so colourful and various, at times so unbelievable, that they cannot surely all belong to the same woman. Can they? As playful and thought-provoking as it is compelling, as brutal and harrowing as it is achingly poignant and tender, this is a novel about love and war, deceit and betrayal, about identity, storytelling and the trickery required for survival.

A wild ride of a novel that embodies twentieth-century Korean history through the mesmerising, heartbreaking and deeply fractured personal history of one woman and her many incarnations., A dazzling, visceral read. Intricately woven and playful, the prose has a brutal beating energy. At its heart is the fascinating Ms Mook, and the kaleidoscope of her life is a captivating history of Korea, a country torn apart, In Mirinae Lee's 8-lives of a Century-Old Trickster, a sly, flinty protagonist summons all of her charm to survive one hundred years of tumult, espionage, and war. I have never put so much trust in a verified liar. Part spy novel, part ode to storytelling, Lee's debut captivated and surprised me., Unflinching and tender, philosophical and mischievous, this playful novel conveys a sense of Korea's turbulent twentieth century through a charming, compelling protagonist who is not always a reliable narrator but who tells the truths that matter. I was captivated by Lee's masterful storytelling, Fantastically original doesn't begin to describe this exhilarating, globe-spanning, decade-hopping masterpiece. Lee has achieved the impossible - from a fractured century of agonies and betrayals, she has woven a novel of immense beauty and regeneration

Mirinae Lee was born and raised in South Korea, and now lives in Hong Kong. Her first work of fiction appeared in the Antioch Review and was listed as Notable Nonrequired Reading of 2018 in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019. Her second short story won the 2018 Editors' Prize in Fiction and appeared in Meridian. 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster is her debut novel.

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