Stealing Cinderella:
How I Became an International Fugitive for Love

“I’m used to being excluded and feeling unwelcome. I’ve been a hoodlum my whole life. They want to tell me I’m stealing her? F*ck it. Okay, I’m stealing her.”
–Mark D. Diehl, South Korea, 1994

I showed up in South Korea with $20 and a dubious offer to teach English. Jennifer was the wickedly smart, fiercely independent second daughter of one of Korea’s most influential families. We fell in love in a country where even sitting together brought angry stares, taunts, and threats. Our employer forbade us from seeing each other, but we continued in secret. Eventually, her family became suspicious and had her followed. Their efforts to separate us in the days after that were relentless and violent. We were forced to abandon everything and flee to Hong Kong, where our situation only became more dire.

KIRKUS REVIEWS:

“…Their relationship—first one of friendship, then love—broke Korean social norms and put them in great danger. She was the middle child and, worse, the second daughter of a wealthy, professional family. “I was a disappointment to them the day I was born,” she told Diehl. Within the family, her needs were subservient to those of her older sister and younger brother. Combining the drama and excitement of a novel with some sociological commentary, the author offers both a tender love story and an eye-opening depiction of Korean values, restrictions, and strengths in the early ’90s..

An engrossing, poignant, and often disturbing adventure; loaded with historical and cultural details about the Korean Peninsula.”

FOREWARD CLARION REVIEWS:

“…The tension builds right from the start. Pointed, natural dialogue moves the story forward, revealing characters’ backstories without lengthy narrative passages. Informative and entertaining, the book sets the stage for the conflict between the young outlier couple and Korean society through eye-opening, often disturbing facts about the country’s culture, beliefs, and lifestyle, including that it’s suffered nine hundred invasions in its history. It becomes clear why the nation is suspicious and fearful of its neighbors and why it takes comfort in holding tightly to its traditions. A prescient warning comes regarding submission to rigid hierarchies as a requirement for acceptance and survival.

Stealing Cinderella is a thrilling, high-stakes memoir–emotionally intense, in which two memorable lovers fight against injustice and toward a satisfying conclusion.”

Start HERE:

8/12/19: STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #1

8/14/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #2

8/16/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #3

8/19/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #4

8/23/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #5

8/26/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #6

8/29/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #7

9/1/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #8

9/6/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #9

9/9/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #10

9/12/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #11

9/16/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #12

9/20/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #13

9/23/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #14

9/27/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #15

9/28/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #16

9/29/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #17

9/30/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #18

10/1/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #19

10/2/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #20

10/3/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #21

10/4/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #22

10/4/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #23

10/5/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #24

10/6/19 STEALING CINDERELLA PREVIEW #25

And that’s it, friends! Stealing Cinderella is now live! Buy it at any of these online retailers or take this number to your local bookstore: 9781732819931