The Beloved Daughter

Title: The Beloved Daughter
Author: Alana Terry
Major Themes: North Korea, Persecution
Synopsis: After her father is arrested for his faith, 12-year-old Chung-Cha endures years of horrible treatment in a North Korean labor camp.

My daughter downloaded The Beloved Daughter a few years ago, and has told me about it several times; it apparently made quite an impression on her. I only now got around to reading it, and understand why it did. This is a horrible, wonderful, book.

The Beloved Daughter is a horrible book because it shows how terrible people can be to other people. It is set in North Korea, the most repressed nation on earth. The only god allowed in North Korea is the leader; if you dare to believe in Jesus, you will be tortured and starved in prison camps. Chung-Cha’s father was a believer. When he was arrested, his wife and daughter were, as well, and Chung-Cha was tortured to make him give up his faith. After two weeks, she was told that her father had renounced Jesus and then hung himself. A few weeks later, her mother, who had denounced Jesus at the beginning, also died, and Chung-Cha was alone, at age 12, in a prison camp, with no prospect of release for the rest of her life.

The Beloved Daughter is a wonderful book because it shows the power of God to keep His own, and deliver them from the plans of the enemy. I found it encouraging, even though it is fiction, because I have read enough true stories from places like North Korea to know that the types of incidents described in this book really do happen.

This is not a book for children. As I said already, it is horrible in places; I could barely handle reading some of it. If you are interested in the persecuted Church, or need to be encouraged that Jesus is real and will care for you through anything, you might want to read this book.

WARNING: There are very brutal scenes included, including, although not explicitly, sexual abuse.