Sold

The heart-wrenching story of Lakshmi, from Nepal, who is sold into prostitution at the age of 13, and kept captive in 'Happiness House' - where she not only survives, against all odds, but triumphs.

Lakshmi's family is desperately poor, but village life in the mountains of Nepal has its share of pleasures. When the monsoons wreck their crops yet again, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family. She arrives at 'Happiness House' full of hope, but soon learns the unthinkable truth - she has been sold into prostitution.

This new world becomes a nightmare from which there is no escape. But, very gradually, Lakshmi makes friends with others in the house, and gathers her courage, until the day she has to face the hardest decision of all: will she risk everything to reclaim her life?

Deceptively simple, eloquent, and shocking - this is a story you will never forget.

'A phenomenal book, a punch in the gut...It drew me in from the first page, even though I wanted to turn away...McCormick has taken a difficult, distasteful subject and written something readable and compassionate without shying away from the truths of the matter. I only wish it was a historical document, not a portrait of a world we have all helped to create.'
Deborah Ellis, author of the Parvana series

About the Author:
Patricia McCormick is a critically acclaimed author for young adults. Her debut novel, Cut, captivated teenagers and adults alike, becoming a bestseller in America and winning numerous awards. This was followed by the equally applauded My Brother's Keeper. Patricia holds a master's degree in creative writing, and has contributed regularly to The New York Times. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children, and says the coolest thing she's done lately (perhaps the coolest thing she's ever done) was to go rappelling off a cliff in the Blue Mountains of Australia.

Note from the Author:
Each year, nearly twelve thousand Neali girls are sold by their families, intentionally or unwittingly, into a life of sexual slavery in the brothels of India. As part of my research for 'Sold', I traced the path that many Napali girls have taken - from remote villages to the red-light districts of Kolkata. I also interviewed aid workers from India and Nepal who rescue girls from brothels, provide them with medical care and job training, and work to reintegrate them into society.

But most touching and inspiring was interviewing survivors themselves. These young women have experienced what many people would describe as unspeakable horrors. But they are speaking out - with great dignity.

Some go door-to-door in the country's most isolated villages to explain what really happens to girls who leave home with strangers promising good jobs. Some of them - even women who are ill with HIV - patrol the border between Nepal and India on the lookout for young girls travelling without their parents. And some are facing their traffickers in court - where it is often their word against the fathers and brothers, husbands and uncles who sold them for as little as three hundred dollars.
It is in their honour that this book was written.

Allen & Unwin
Author: Patricia McCormick
ISBN: 9781741751055
RRP: $16.95


Review: It is appauling that in todays modern society that this barbaric behaviour still occurs.... Patricia McCormick does an outstanding job in portraying the plights of those that fall victim to preditors.