Mónica Macías was sent at the age of seven to North Korea to study and reside under the care of the then-leader of the country, Kim Il Sung.
Macías stayed in Pyongyang until 1994, when she travelled to Spain, Equatorial Guinea's former colonial power and the birthplace of her maternal grandfather to learn more about herself and investigate the death of her father.
The book attracted even more recognition and attention, as Macías shared the results of her interviews with about 3,000 people who knew her father, and concluded that he was not guilty of the crimes for which he was executed.
Macías also revealed in her book that she has come to take pride in Kim Il Sung as her second father, and that she had to hide her origins when she moved to the West because she was raised by two men known as brutal dictators.
She firmly rejects calls to denounce these figures, seeing Kim Il Sung as her rescuer and being seemingly unaware of his human rights abuses.