**Shortlisted for the Selfies Book Awards 2024** **Shortlisted for Unbound Firsts 2023** ★★★★★ “One of the best memoirs I've read" ★★★★★ “Profound and emotional" ★★★★★ “Refreshingly honest, painfully so at times" ★★★★★ “Candid and courageous" ★★★★★ “It's raw, it's real and a must-read" Told with unreserved candor and vulnerability, Girl Uprooted is a fascinating exploration of identity and what it means to belong when you straddle multiple cultures, languages, friendships and homes. Growing up, Lena Lee never knew where she belonged. The daughter of a diplomat, she moved countries every three years, her world swinging between East and West. While her father tried to instill traditional Confucian values in his children, Lena was quick to disown her Korean roots at school, even pretending she couldn’t speak her mother tongue. By the time she returned “home” to South Korea at the age of 22, Lena’s inner and outer lives were worlds apart. On paper, she was an Oxford graduate about to start a promising career in London; behind the scenes, her twenties were plagued by drinking and depression as a lifetime of shapeshifting took its toll. Ultimately, it would take an explosive family rupture to force Lena to confront her mental health issues and ask herself: Who was she? And where, if anywhere, did she belong? 'Raw, compelling and deeply moving...A must-read for anyone seeking to understand the impact of growing up cross-culturally' Ruth Van Reken, co-author of Third Culture Kids 'One of the best memoirs I have read that was equally poignant and heartbreaking, while also sprinkled with humor, and lots of honest moments about mental health, family, and friendship.' nurse_bookie 'I cannot express how much this book resonated with me. Thank you, Lena, for your openness and sharing such personal moments in your life. You'll never know how much you've truly touched my heart.' wherethereadergrows 'I inhaled this in just one day. It takes a lot of courage for anyone to speak so openly, but this memoir will be a source of support and even validation for many.' kuzia.studies