The Starlet and the Spy
​​​by Ji-min Lee

July 2019 (as Marilyn and Me in the UK)
September 2019 (in the US)
​
A dazzling work of historical fiction, based on true events, about two women who seem the most unlikely to ever meet: Alice, a Korean war survivor and translator for the American forces in Seoul and Marilyn Monroe, who is visiting Korea on a four-day USO tour.

As Marilyn’s visit unfolds, Alice is forced into a reckoning with her own painful past. Moving and mesmerizing, The Starlet and the Spy is a beautiful portrayal of unexpected kinship between two very different women, and of the surprising connections that can change, or even save, a life.

Pre-order now.

---

Reviews

“This story of the unlikely meeting of two vulnerable women is a beautifully woven page turner. The battle-weary woman and the pin-up girl who meet, connect, separate: each changed by the brief union.”
​—Heather Morris, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz

“This is a story about two women who have transcended time. Nobody has written about the tragedy of war with such imagination. It is wonderful and lively and sad and makes you nod in recognition.”
—Kyung-Sook Shin, New York Times bestselling author of Please Look After Mom

“The Starlet and the Spy explores war and survival, grief and guilt, and our complicated relationship with beauty. This poetically translated, richly imagined novel provides a moving, thought-provoking glimpse into a fascinating moment in history.”
​—Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Race for Paris