Echoes from the Abyss

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly powerful
Review: A thirteen-year-old girl is deceived into leaving her family and then enslaved in a brothel. The girl goes through a series of horrific ordeals, but her courage defies her circumstances.

'Echoes from the Abyss' tells the story of this thirteen-year-old girl, Meena.

The book opens in a scenic, yet rural part of Nepal. Meena is from a poor but happy family. She loves running on the hillside and playing with her brother. And even though her family is too poor to send her to school, Meena's ultimate dream is to be educated one day.

Upon her father's sudden death Meena's mother learns that her husband owes large debts. And the only way the mother can keep her home from being re-possessed is to have Meena work for someone the local doctor has recommended. This someone takes Meena across the border to Bombay, one of India's biggest cities. Here she is sold to a brothel, run by the tyrant Lady Chowla Bai.

Not yet having come to grips with the situation around her, our protagonist is shocked to find out that she must partake in the in-house activities. Her initial refusal only leads to brutal beatings until she is barely recognizable. Without her body or soul in agreement 'Sahib' a fat, dirty old man becomes her regular client, along with the daily traffic.

Another enslaved child, Pooja, becomes her best friend and manages to keep Meena's spirits barely alive.

An attempted escape from the brothel results in extreme public humiliation. And the reader becomes instantly aware that the police in Bombay work hand-in-hand with the brothels. Furthermore the government is complicit in keeping the industry alive and thriving. Most of the enslaved girls are from the lowest cast and therefore, the general populous have no interest in their predicaments.

The story hits hard not just the direct issue of child slavery but also the social environment, which facilitates this process. The bribed police, the corrupt officials, and the willingly oblivious public are the key components.

...The story hits a new high as the author dissects South Asian society with insightful precision. We are shown that a child is simply a social extension of the parents. Therefore, all decisions that the child is permitted to make or that are made for her must directly yield profitable for the parents. This profit can be in the form of social acceptance or potential monetary gains.

Meena must marry this person without telling him about her past. But she cannot live with any more deceit. She cannot lie to anyone. She wants to be educated. She wants her mother to truly accept her and to talk to her about her occurring nightmares.

And then there is Neeraj, the only person who seems to love Meena. But can she believe that any man can show love. And could he do so after finding out about the girl's past.

A touching and surprising ending brings an emotionally uplifting conclusion to a thoroughly powerful story.

A window to contemporary social issues, layered with subtle meanings, 'Echoes from the Abyss' is entertaining, authentic, and ultimately feel-good.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting topic
Review: I found this book to cover a very interesting topic, and a topic that needs to be addressed. I would recommend this book for this reason.
The quality of the writing was mediocre, and as a piece of literary work it was quite poorly constructed. The convoluted method of writing is tricky, because you really require motivation and a piece of string to work through this book!

Rating:
Summary: wow!
Review: that was awsome!
can someone tell me more about this author. and what her next book is about.

Rating:
Summary: A poignant tale predicated on cruel reality
Review: This book captures the most cruel manifestations of poverty in South Asia, with remarkable accuracy. The author shows candor and compassion in her story-telling and shows how the most apalling crimes are continuing to be committed against innocent girls in South Asia. While, a fictional account, the book is based on the author's extensive research on the topic of child abduction and prostitution in South Asia. The prose is hauntingly beautiful, yet simple and dignified -- a rare combination when dealing with such a subject. This book definitely deserves to be picked up by a larger press for distribution and recognition. In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that the author is my sister, but I have always been a candid critic of her work, and this is truly a masterpiece.