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My True Story
by Mende Nazer, Damien Lewis
Book Reviewed by:From the book jacket: A shocking true story of
contemporary slavery: a young girl, snatched from her tribal
village in Africa, survives enslavement in Sudan and London
before making a courageous escape to freedom.
Comment: If you thought that slavery ended in 1865 -
think again. Slave tells the true story of
Mende, who was captured in a raid on her Nuba village and
sold into slavery in Sudan. This, and another recent book,
Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in
Captivity and My Journey to Freedom in America by
Francis Bok (published in late 2003), are must reads because
they tell of slavery happening today, this minute, in Sudan
(where slaves change hands for $150)
Mende Nazer's story only came to light because she was brave
enough to escape while working for a Sudanese diplomat in
London and, after a long and ridiculous battle with British
officialdom to prove her refugee status, has been allowed to
become resident. Francis Bok escaped from the Sudan to Cairo
where he persevered through prison and refugee camps for
three years before being granted passage to America. Both
Bok and Nazer are vocal in speaking out about their
experiences and are anti-slavery activists because as Nazer
writes "I want all the others who are still in slavery and
misery to be set free....how can I really feel free, when I
know that they all remain enslaved.'
The one thing I felt missing from the hardcover edition of
Slave was a resource for further information, such as
links to anti-slavery websites and information on other
countries that still allow (or turn a blind eye to) slavery.
If you want to know more about modern day slavery try
iAbolish.com, and to
learn more about Sudan visit the
CIA's World Factbook.
This review
first ran in the June 15, 2005
issue of BookBrowse Recommends.
If you liked Slave, try these:
by André Brink
Published 2013
In Philida, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, André Brink—"one of South Africa's greatest novelists" (The Telegraph)—gives us his most powerful novel yet; the truly unforgettable story of a female slave, and her fierce determination to survive and to be free.
by E. Benjamin Skinner
Published 2009
To be a moral witness is perhaps the highest calling of journalism, and in this unforgettable, highly readable account of contemporary slavery, author Benjamin Skinner travels around the globe to personally tell stories that need to be told -- and heard.
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