Sold is the frighteningly beautiful story of a thirteen-year-old girl named Lakshmi who lives with her family in a small village in Nepal. Her family is extremely poor, and they depend on farming in order to survive. Unfortunately, a series of Himalayan monsoons cause all of her family’s crops to wash away, causing her family great distress and hardship. Lakshmi’s stepfather says that it is time for Lakshmi to take a job in order to support the family. Lakshmi meets a glamorous strange woman who convinces her that she will help her find a job as a maid in the city. Lakshmi journeys to India only to discover the truth: She has been sold into prostitution.
This is one of the greatest novels that I have ever read. The story itself is haunting, and the overall message of it is beautiful because it is about finding hope in tragic, horrific, devastating situations. It deals with the topics of human trafficking, more specifically sex trafficking, hope, despair, tragedy, friendship, compassion, and love.
The book follows Lakshmi’s perspective, and I found her to be a wonderful protagonist to root for. Prior to leaving her family, Lakshmi doesn’t dwell on the poverty that her family is living in, and she never pities herself. She finds enjoyment in the small things, like playing hopscotch with her friends and her mother brushing her hair. Because she is young, the writing is simplistic, yet poignant, and I loved that. The style of writing was realistic to me and made the story all that more powerful. Lakshmi’s voice in the book sounds young, which makes it much harder to continue through her story because you don’t want bad things to happen to a young girl like her. I also found Lakshmi to be incredibly mature for a girl of her age, and I was rooting for her throughout the story.
Patricia McCormick did not shy away from showing the horrors of Lakshmi’s situation, and I was grateful for that because we need to be honest about the horrific reality of modern-day sex slavery in order to be more aware of it, learn about it, and stop it from happening. The least we can do is become more aware of the issue, and I think this book did a wonderful job at bringing it to light.
In addition to being honest, I really respect Patricia McCormick for doing extensive research on the issue of sex and human trafficking overseas in Nepal. Although the character of Lakshmi is fictional, McCormick wrote in the author’s note in the back of the book that part of her research for Sold included “tracing the path that many Nepalese girls have taken,” from remote villages to the streets of Calcutta, and she interviewed aid workers who rescue girls from brothels, provide them with medical care and job training, and who work to integrate them into society. Also, McCormick interviewed survivors of sex trafficking from Nepal, which she called the “most touching and inspiring.” She wrote the book in honor of those survivors, according to her author’s note, and I have incredible respect for that. It means a lot that an author would take the time to do research on the topic and interview survivors of these horrific experiences in order to make her book as authentic as possible.
I cannot recommend this book enough. It was phenomenal, beautiful, and truly unforgettable.
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Thanks for reading!
