The author refused to violate rules to benefit her superior, and was thrown into a labor camp so horrible that she is the only known survivor. Almost all prisoners were worked to death, but she had one of the few jobs that were barely survivable. I've read a number of books by communist labor camp survivors, but this describes the harshest conditions outside of Nazi death camps. Initially an atheist, she was so impressed by the behavior of a few Christian prisoners that she became one later. If you want to know how bad things really are in North Korea, this will show you.