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Echoes
from the Abyss
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!
Written by Farzana
H. Shahid
Published by Writers Club Press
Price from $10.84
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Customer Reviews
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| Interesting topic
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Rating:
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| 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! |
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| wow! |
| Rating:
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| that was awsome!can someone tell me
more about this author. and what her next book is about.
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| Thoroughly powerful
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| 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. |
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