Sold

Thirteen-year-old Lakshmi and her family live in a modest hut among Nepal's Himalayas. Despite her family's extreme poverty, she enjoys many little pleasures in life, such as caring for her black-and-white speckled goat and watching her mother wash her hair by the glow of an oil lamp. But Lakshmi's stepfather tells her to leave home and get a job to feed her family when the hard Himalayan monsoons wipe out all that's left of their crops.

He introduces her to a gorgeous stranger who assures her that she would be able to obtain employment in the city as a maid for a rich lady. Lakshmi travels far to India, glad to be able to assist, and arrives at "Happiness House" full of optimism. However, she soon discovers the unimaginable reality: she was bought and sold into prostitution.

The brutal and sly owner of the brothel is an elderly lady by the name of Mumtaz. She deceives Lakshmi into believing she is stranded there until she can settle her family's debt, then takes advantage of her low wages to prevent her from ever being able to escape.

Lakshmi finds herself trapped in a nightmare that she cannot leave. Nevertheless, she abides by her mother's advice, "Simply to endure is to triumph," and she eventually makes the companions who help her get by in this scary new world. Then the moment arrives when she has to choose: is it worth risking everything to get a second shot at life?

This compelling work, which is written in brief but moving vignettes, depicts a world that is both unbelievable and true, as well as a girl who not only lives but also succeeds.