Structure

Nothing To Envy is divided into twenty chapters and one epilogue, titled “The Third Generation.” Each chapter is enumerated but also has a title, so for example the third chapter of the book is labelled as Chapter 3 but also titled “The True Believer.” The titles selected by Demick for each of her chapters is indicative of an important theme or idea in that chapter, so the third chapter’s title hints at Mrs. Song’s deep loyalty to the North Korean regime. As such, Demick’s structure helps the reader to keep track of important ideas and themes within the book’s pages.

Though Demick’s structure appears straightforward, the chapters do not progress in chronological order, thus the reader must piece together for themselves the order in which the events described take place. Demick’s chapters move in a general chronological order from the origins of...