From then on we are given a life story which involves quite a lot of work but also quite a lot of flying around the world, and a narrative that the two strong man country leaders she is raised by are benevolent and misunderstood by the rest of the world. Born in Equatorial Guinea, West Africa, to a Guinean father and Spanish mother, Monica and her siblings and mother are sent to North Korea when she, the youngest, is seven, for their own safety as her father becomes president of the country after its independence from Spain (and quite soon afterwards is assassinated by his own nephew in a coup). This lifestyle has helped me to focus on my tasks and goals, to be productive and manage stress successfully.Īs seen in the quote above, this book records an exercise in taking what you’re given and trying to do the best you can with it, and you can’t help but admire Macias for doing that under the circumstances. Even now, as an adult, structure is threaded through my daily habits. Monica Macias – “Black Girl from Pyongyang”įrom that day on, I realised that I had no choice but to accept the order and discipline of the school, and finally embraced the rigours of the life I had been given. Who would have thought you would read a book about someone from West Africa moving to North Korea? Optimistic yet unflinching, Monica's astonishing and unique story challenges us to see the world through different eyes.My second NetGalley read of the month and a very interesting one at that. At military boarding school, Monica learned to mix with older children, speak fluent Korean and handle weapons on training exercises.Īfter university, she went in search of her roots, passing through Beijing, Seoul, Madrid, Guinea, New York and finally London - forced at every step to reckon with damning perceptions of her adoptive homeland. Effectively orphaned, she and two siblings had to make their life in Pyongyang.
Within months, her father was executed in a military coup her mother became unreachable. She was sent by her father Francisco, the first president of post-Independence Equatorial Guinea, to be educated under the guardianship of his ally, Kim Il Sung.
In 1979, aged only seven, Monica Macias was transplanted from West Africa to the unfamiliar surroundings of North Korea. The extraordinary true story of a West African girl's upbringing in North Korea under the protection of President Kim Il Sung.
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