This is one of the most difficult books to read. It was really very fast since it is written as a sort of journal or even as poetry, at times.
Sold is the story of Lakshmi, a Nepalese girl. She struggles with hunger and poverty in her tiny village until she has the opportunity to work in the city as a maid. She is sold to a woman who sells her to another man who takes her across the boarder into India. There she is sold to Mumtaz, the owner of the Happiness House. Lakshmi does not become a maid, but is locked up in a brothel, drugged and raped of her virginity at the age of 13.
The languge is heartbreaking. There is, however, a hopeful light. Lakshmi makes friend with some of the other girls in the house, with the boy that sells tea at the back door and even the son of one of the women. The last even teaches Lakshmi some English.
The book is overall horrifying and distrubing. What's worse is that it's largely true. McCormick researched this sexual slavery and found that some 12,000 Nepalese girls are sold to brothels in India every year. Whether the ending is a happy one or not, is up for you to determine.
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
