Slave

Rating:
Summary: Slavery Still Exists!!
Review: In Slave: My True Story, Mende Nazer's spirit echoes that of Sojourner Truth's during her journey from slave to freedom fighter. The singular difference in their heroic efforts is the span of more than a century. One would like to believe that humanity would choose to eradicate slavery everywhere, but Nazer is living proof that the horrific institution is thriving in the new millennium. Nazer, only in her mid-twenties, has spent more than half her life enslaved - held captive against her will by her own countrymen. Her escape to freedom was largely a stroke of luck but she took it as an omen to tell the world about the widespread slave trade in modern day Sudan. Her book is an international bestseller in Europe and she hopes its launch in the US will bring about awareness and more supporters.

Nazer's autobiography is told with a child-like voice that conveys innocence and honesty. Told chronologically, it begins with a happy, carefree childhood with her family in remote Sudan. She shares tribal traditions, wonderful family memories, and her perspective of the Arab and British influence on her people. She also covers the painful aspects that address female circumcision, poor health care provisions, and infant mortality. Her childhood is interrupted around 12 years of age (as the Nuba tribe does not record birth dates) when she was abducted and raped in a violent Arab raid on her village and sold into domestic slavery in Khartoum. There she was physically, mentally, and emotionally abused continuously for eight years serving as housemaid, car detailer, laundress, cook, seamstress, and 24-hour nursemaid; never receiving a vacation or any other compensation. Sadly the same tactics used during the ancient slave trade are still employed today. Equally effective are the perpetual impoverishment and loss of any familiarity. Although several opportunities for escape were presented over the years, Mende became too brainwashed and fearful to take advantage.

Mende eventually came of age, started to attract the attention of adult male visitors to the household, then was "traded" to a family in London. She eventually escaped and was granted amnesty within the UK with aide from fellow Sudanese and British supporters. One of those supporters, Damien Lewis, is the co-author of the novel. Both he and Mende dedicate their time and resources supporting human rights organizations and government assemblies. She has since learned that her parents survived the raid and are alive near her village and communicates with them periodically. Unfortunately with her sensationalized trial, publicized battle for political asylum in the United Kingdom and the release of the novel, came noteriety that prohibits her from returning to the Sudan. Thus Mende's ultimate plea for the abolition of slavery everywhere is coupled by a simple desire to see her family again.

This is a book is a testimony to a young woman's outstanding courage and unconquerable spirit.

Phyllis
APOOO BookClub, Nubian Circle Book Club

Rating:
Summary: Heart breaking truth
Review: It is hard to comprehend that this poor girl was enslaved until just a few years ago. It seemed from her story that there may still be an active slave trade in areas like Sudan. The evil of those who attack, kill, burn, rape and capture human beings for financial gain is appalling, as is the evil of the selfish, heartless people who "bought" and beat a 12 year old child to do their dirty work for them, and treated another human child like something less than an animal.
As painful as it is to read, this is a book that should be read.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read !
Review: It is important for us to understand that slavery still exists. This story is a painful reminder that the meaningless slaughter of people and slavery still exists. Thank you for sharing your story ! It is a book that you will not be able to put down

Rating:
Summary: Human rights abuse needs to stop!!!!
Review: Mende has done an amazing job in telling the story of her life, i read the book in one sitting, i cried, i laughed and i cried some more.. This is a powerful memoire of human rights abuse happening all over the world as we speak. It inspired me to join Amnesty International, and hopefully contribute alittle to the troubles of our world.. Please read this book, you will look at the world alittle differently after it...

Rating:
Summary: It¿s all over the news; this takes you right in the middle¿
Review: Most of us associate slavery with the days of the American Civil War. Yet, in many parts of the world today, slavery isn't dead. In this novel, we meet Mende, a young Sudanese tribal girl growing up happily with her family. The first third of the book explores Mende's childhood among her tribe, the Karko of the Nuba Mountains. Then one night, everything changes. Her village is attacked by Arab raiders. Huts are torched, men killed, women raped and children rounded up to be sold off later as slaves. Mende is among them. We see how Mende struggles to survive as a slave girl and horrors she was forced to go through. Eventually, Mende travels to London as a slave, where it is that she is finally able to make a break for freedom. While Mende's first hand account is great, describing a young woman's life as she matures from a child to an adult under horrible circumstances, something I disliked about this book was that towards the end, Damien Lewis seemed to take over the writing and this made it seem less personal. Also, because of Mende's age at certain points of the novel, I feel like some spots were not as detailed as later chapters. These two minor gripes shouldn't deter you from reading an unbelievable story of a resilient young woman.

Rating:
Summary: Modern Sudan through the eyes of a young Nuba girl
Review: Sudan is in the headlines these days. This book provides a very personal glimpse into the story behind those headlines. The book tells the story of Mende Nazer in three basic parts: her early life in the Nuba mountains; her capture and life as a domestic slave in Khartoum and London, and her escape from slavery and attempts to establish asylum.

Her life in the Nuba tribes of southern Sudan reveals much about the culture and values of these people. Mende Nazer portrays the Nuba as simple farmers with a proud culture who are at the mercy of the Arab Sudanese of the north. Although slavery is technically against the law, there seems to be a lively black market which the Nuba appear helpless to stop.

The family that buys Mende when she is 12 takes great caution to hide her condition from officials while they brag about their slave to family and friends. Mende's perspective as a child wrenched from her tight family structure and seeking to comprehend the world through the eyes of a slave, makes for compelling reading. Reading this book is a great way to put a human face on what is happening in Sudan. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing, tragic story.
Review: The most tragic thing about this book is that the entire thing has played out over the last ten years.

The prose flows very well and makes this an easy read, but it's the only thing that is easy about this book. The subject matter moved me to tears.

The authors do a wonderful job depicted the early happy childhood of Nazer, which is a complete contrast to the violence she endures in slavery.

The book treats the topics of female genital mutilation, slavery, physical, verbal, and emotional abuse with a rawness that makes you understand exactly what this brave woman endured during her enslavement.

Rating:
Summary: Great insight into modern day slavery
Review: This is an awesome book written by the amazing Mende, who at 12, is kidnapped from her village in Sudan and sold into slavery. Her intelligence and insight into what has happened to her is amazing. She is a brave and strong young woman, who despite the abuse and degredation she experiences, holds on to the hope that one day she will escape and return to her family. Told by the author, who is now 23, it is and insightful look into the horror occuring in this day and age in Sudan.

Rating:
Summary: A struggle to freedom
Review: When I bought 'Slave' I just thought it would be a fun read that I could put down and pick up anytime, but it ended up only taking a few hours because of the intensity of it and the none-stop action. It's about Mende Nazer, her life as a slave, and her struggle to freedom. Reading about slavery and the abuse that came with it horrified me to the point I couldn't put the book down until finding out whether she gains her freedom or not, and for that matter, even lives or not Mende spent most of her life as a slave and even now still hasn't fully adapted to a world of freedom, although it's only been a few years.

As Mende struggles through every day life, which is basically chores and beatings: mental, physical and sexual, she always finds something to bring her back to a good, peaceful place. Whether it be thinking about her Nuba tribe, which was her home for only about 12 years, and village stories, or even the masters kids which are the only people who treat her nicely and equally. In fact, they are the only people who even recognize her as a walking, talking human. As she talked about her life I realize that other slaves had/have an even worse life than she. Mende had a big advantage over many of the other slaves because she could speak some English already and was older so she had more good memories to hang on to.

While reading this I thought of all the times I got mad over doing laundry or getting hurt in a fall, but this was nothing compared to Mendes world. When first getting her period she didn't know what was happening and had no-one to help and guide her on this important new stage in life. And when a little boy tripped her and she fell, dropping some glasses on the way, she wasn't scolded like many of us would be; she was beaten and put to blame. There are so many slaves in the world today but many people just pass it by or are oblivious to it and even those who do know don't educate others. . Until reading this book I could honestly say I would be in the category of 'oblivious people,' but now I understand much more about slaves and there lives from getting captured to brutal beatings from there "masters."

'Slave' gives a voice to all those who had none and were being held captive. It is an up-to-date account of a girl who lost her freedom and her strain to get it back. It opens your eyes to the world of slaves, slave trade, and the authenticity of it all. 'Slave' is an eye-opening book that you won't be able to put down.

Rating:
Summary: Erases the Reader's Sense of Denial That Slavery Lives
Review: You may think you don't need to read this book . . . but you really do.

In the back pages of better newspapers and at forums of those looking into human rights abuses, tales of slavery in Africa are told. When you read or hear those stories, it's hard to fathom . . . almost in the same way that tales of Africans brutally uprooted from their families in the 1700s and 1800s to be brought to the United States are hard to fathom. Somehow that sense of psychological distance keeps a person from being as outraged as by exploitation of children in factories in the third world to make athletic shoes that well for $150. If you read Slave, your sense of distance will be removed. And your outrage will be enormous. I hope you will read this book . . . and find ways to help solve the problem it describes.

Slave is the autobiography of Ms. Mende Nazer, a black Moslem from Sudan. She grew up in a typical rural village where cattle and farming provide the livelihood, much as they have done for hundreds of years. Her tribe had only recently stopped using ceremonial scarring to "enhance" the beauty of the men and women. The tribe still practiced witchcraft along with the Moslem religion. Female circumcism is still practiced there (another important subject for human rights supporters).

At around age 12 (for her people keep no track of birth dates), her village was attacked by Arab raiders who slaughtered many people and took away the young people between ages 8 and 12. In the process, the raiders sexually abused the captives before taking them to be sold. After being resold, Ms. Nazer found herself on the way to Khartoum where she was bought to be a domestic slave for a wealthy Arab family.

The abuse continued in the home. Ms. Nazer was treated with contempt and beaten for any reason that the woman in the household chose to employ. One of the beatings was so bad that it was life-threatening. She was denied the ability to practice her religion (which requires prayers five times a day) despite the fact that it was the same religion as her owners follow. She worked from dawn until the week hours of the morning, with no time off. Ms. Nazer feared for her life if she did not follow orders, and was really too young and inexperienced to know what else to do.

At that point, the owners' relatives in London arranged to have Ms. Nazer shipped there to serve as a slave for that family . . . doing the same kind of work for a family of five. Although she was not beaten in the same way, she was worked even harder here. Finally, she was able to spend some time on her own, met a Sudanese man and got help in escaping (while taking out the trash).

At that point, it became very difficult for Ms. Nazer to obtain asylum in the U.K. Officials there felt they could send her back to the Sudan and all would be well. But, there are a few complications. The slavers who took her originally seemed to have some relationship to the army in Sudan. The U.K. family included the press attaché to the Sudanese embassy. So Ms. Nazer's story is an embarrassing one for the Sudanese government, which says that it opposes slavery.

After a storm of protest in the UK and on the Continent, Ms. Nazer received asylum. But although she can talk with those she knows in Sudan, she cannot visit them without grave personal danger.

Ms. Nazer is an intelligent woman who is skilled in languages. She was at the top of her local school before she was abducted. In the process, she developed some skill in speaking Arabic which probably made her ordeal somewhat easier. But she didn't know any English, which made the UK escape all the harder. The book's material reflects her nuanced observations about her life, her captors, her owners and those who befriended her. Mr. Damien Lewis, who was a journalistic witness to her escape, has done a fine job of helping her turn the recollections into first-rate prose.

So how much do slaves go for in Sudan? According to Mr. Lewis, the going rate is about $150. How cheap is our respect for human life and dignity?

I hope that we can all find ways to help eradicate this horrible practice . . . and aid those who have been victimized by it. Taking square aim at making the Sudanese government reform itself sounds like a perfect place to begin. Where can we hold the next protest?