«What we have here are the ingredients of an across-the-board smash hit: sympathetic characters, an exotic, unknowable setting and a plot that will carry you along more convincingly than any of the fictions used by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.»

David Annand, Sunday Telegraph

«An addictive novel of daring ingenuity; a study of sacrifice and freedom in a citizen-eating dynasty; and a timely reminder that anonymous victims of oppression are also human beings who love. A brave and impressive book»

David Mitchell, author of THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET

«A flamboyantly grim epic of totalitarianism… this larger-than-life, two-fisted picaresque manages to be a page-turner... an ambitious book»

The Sunday Times

«One of those books where you know you’ve found yourself in the hands of someone who can really tell a story, and is yet not naïve about the artificiality of stories. The conceit is fantastic: a narration partly told through the loud speakers of the North Korean regime.»

Zadie Smith

«Fast-paced and intriguing.. this complex, multi-voiced narrative will remind some readers of David Mitchell’s similarly inventive tale, Cloud Atlas… It is magnificent»

Financial Times