SOLD

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the horrors of the sexual slavery industry in an intimate way. This was one of the first books I read on sexual slavery, and it continues to be one that had the most lasting impression on me. Because of this, I embarked on a research journey to discover more about this barbaric industry. Patricia McCormick wrote this book in free-versed vignettes, giving readers childlike snippets of the main character, Lakshmi’s, life. Lakshmi is a composite character, meaning the events that happened to her may not have happened to one person, but the events are true. McCormick personally interviewed sexual slavery survivors in Nepal and Calcutta, India to gather accurate information for this book. Each vignette goes through different stages in Lakshmi's life, ranging from her small-town life before being sold, to her living conditions in the brothel. Although the novel is written in a simplistic manner, the content is anything but simple. McCormick’s style of writing is powerful and moving, and I experienced myriad emotions while reading this novel. Because of the intimate style of writing, and the honesty and reality of how the events are presented, I felt as if I were next to Lakshmi, battling the pain and horrors life presented to her on a daily basis. While reading Sold, you’ll be angered by the abuse, yet glad to see how Lakshmi triumphed through the nightmare of sexual slavery. The ending is somewhat of a cliffhanger, but you’ll know that Lakshmi will no longer be subjected to the brothels. Sold is graphic enough, but it mainly exposes the emotions and personality of Lakshmi. McCormick illustrates Lakshmi as the person inside every sexual slavery victim, and how she won’t allow her spirit and gumption of survival to die. It is easy to see why Sold is National Book Award Finalist. McCormick is highly deserving of the accolades she has received, and continues to receive, for this novel.

SOLD started out slowly. I was beginning to doubt my possible interest until I was about 25 percent into the book. Then, I couldn't quit: I had to stay up past my bed time to finish it in one read. I was saddened enough to learn of the squalid conditions of Lakshmi's life in her home country of Nepal, but once her stepfather insisted she be "sold" to be a maid (sic) to help the family out financially is when the drama really begins. (Of course, had he been more financially responsible, Lakshmi wouldn't have needed to help provide or the family.) Lakshmi, age 13, doesn't really know the motives of her handler/s until she gets to Calcutta, India. The journey to her place of "employment" is arduous, with lots of twists and turns. Because she is starting to feel uneasy, she wants to remember the way back home--just in case--but it "is like trying to clutch a handful of fog." Yet, she has a feeling of duty to her mother, Ama, so she also tries to forget her uneasiness, which is "like trying to hold back the monsoon." Her employer, and now owner, is Mumtaz who has deceived her and her parents about the real objective of Laksmi's employment as a sex slave in a house ironically called "The Happiness House." This is where quickie sex is had for 30 rupies (about 50 cents), the then-cost of a can of Coca-Cola. Her step father bargained her away for 600 rupies ($11.00)--with the promise of more--and she was sold again until her value reached 10,000 rubies ($185), but her female, slave-holding employer places 20,000 rubies ($370) on the books as her debt--to cover all expenses: food, heat, medical shots and such. Even when these enslaved girls (some women) are "free" they are not. One "worker" in this slave trade thought her parents "would honor and thank [her]." Instead when her parents heard she was coming home, "They met [her] outside the village and begged [her] not to come back and disgrace them." And they told this daughter of theirs that they had told the girl's own child that her mother was dead, as a way of explaining her absence. And these are the parents who sold her into this condition! As I read the latter part of the book I was filled with shame and anger about my fellow males. How COULD they desire a child to get their sexual kicks or superstitiously believe such copulation would heal them of an ailment?! And I was filled with sadness about the treatment of the female sex (child or adult). This book was researched in 2005-plus when "12,000 Nepali [only] girls were sold by their families, unwittingly--that's the only saving grace--into a life of sexual slavery in the brothels of India" (p. 165). And that is just a portion of the half million so sold worldwide. As one book jacket blub states: "This is a hard-hitting...poignant book." Although it is written like an autobiography it is really a compilation of the terrible horror these young girls go through--and sometimes never escape. And, worse yet, sometimes become part of the system...because who else wants them? About a year ago I heard of this phenomenon and gave $100 to the cause, and it's time to do it again. I also recently met a beautiful twenty-something Nepali-American woman and mentioned this practice to her. She had probably been upper-class in Nepal and denied the practice and had never heard of it. Obviously, only the very poor are approached.

Good book, completing story, a very disturbing read but necessary to expose these victimizations. The writing format wasn’t for me, the book could be 1/2 the length.

I read the book. I read the afterword in which Patricia McCormick briefly explains her travels and findings in conjunction with the story. OK. Now what? That is what I am left with--now what? Should I sell all and go to India to help these girls? Seems implausible, although another reviewer intends to do just that, or perhaps she finally cannot. Send money? Nope, don't trust the imploring for money. Write my own book? No time, no talent. Pray for more Mother Teresas? Seems the most likely choice, but how many women are willing to renounce world and go help the girls in the brothel districts in India? What am I supposed to do for those pitiful, trusting girls, who are treated like nothing more than trash and offal? Lakshmi, a thirteen-year-old who follows with her eyes a boy in the village, who does likewise with her, is sold by her wicked stepfather into prostitution. His gambling habit is more important than the value of the life of his wife's child. By her own calculations, she learns early on that she will NEVER make enough money to buy her freedom. I think the one unnerving point of the story is that Lakshmi is delivered from this life. An American missionary rescues her and takes her to learn a trade and a respectable way to live. Why unnerving? That only one at a time, only one, is rescued. Just one. How many, how many live in brothels across the world and are forced to submit without any choices or decisions? The book is excellent. Period. There are no weaknesses in plot, character, theme. The fact (in the novel) that Lakshmi is one of uncounted thousands (millions?) explains why her story is so desperate. Because it is simple and brief, description of what happens to her can be read by 9-year-olds as long as they understand the ramifications of this kind of slavery. The worst fact is the number of times she must participate--a hundred and a hundred more. Police stories on television inform me that this kind of slavery even takes place in the United States. Buy 'em, catch 'em, take 'em to another country for prostitution. And I ask, Now what?

Books are powerful. That's why every year the ALA publishes a list of banned and challenged books. Those books tell uncomfortable truths, hold mirrors up to show imperfections in society, make us see what we prefer to keep hidden or ignore. Hitler and other dictators burned books, because books hold truth between their covers, and we can learn and change the world with truth. "Sold" is a book for our time, sadly. We have Epstein, only one of many exploitation cases. And exploitation of children goes on behind many closed doors individually in our own neighborhoods. In her interview with Ali Velshi, Patricia McCormick said that when she visited classes where "Sold" had been read(courageously, I believe), sometimes students revealed their sexual abuse to her and their teacher and classmates. The classmates were compassionate and supportive of their friends. "Sold" needs to be read, not with censure but with compassion and love and action.

Gut wrenching story, relentless horror and abuse. Humanity at its worst……the abysmal torture and sale of children for $$$. Must read

The actuality of young girls having lived and still living through this sort of experience is maddening. The story is a fictionalized account of what may be the life of some of these child slaves. It is written in a way that didn't explicitly describe the horrors that these young girls go through, but gave enough description to leave the reader with the understanding of how awful life must be for these young girls. I was grateful for the perspective of this novel but felt it was for a younger audience. There seems to be so much more going on with the issue of child slavery in India than could not addressed due to it reaching out to a younger reader. It certainly leaves one wanting and hoping to learn more on the why's and how to's when it comes to making changes and improving the protection of innocence in this area of the world. A very fast, and interesting read, leaving one wanting to learn more about the issue.

Well written concerning an atrocious waste of human life! Sad!

Actually i have chosen this book for my project when I read a review. After that when I started to read this book it was amazing. While I read this my heart was burden. I thanked God for giving a good family and everything. I just imagined I'm as Lakshmi I can tolerate that pain even a second but how can she lived a life for year. Here Lakshmi got a chance to escape from there but what about other girls still they are working as a .......... really painful

Emozionante - bellissimo

Quick, easy read. Gripping & eye opening.

This was a genuinely heartbreaking story, but a beautifully written book. Lyrical and devastating. A very quick read, took less than 3 hours.

This book deals with something really important that happens nowadays: sexual slavery. I think this kind of books are really important, and, because of that, I recommend it. It was also a pretty enjoyable reading (as long as you don't mind reading about rape, which, of course, was not enjoyable).