The Road to Lost Innocence

The Road to Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam

At the time I am writing this, there are 37 reviews on Amazon, and all of them gave a 5/5 star review.  Wow!  Personally, while I found the first half to be gripping -- painfully gripping -- I started to feel a little bored during the second half.  And I feel bashful admitting that, because the second half chronicles all of her wonderful acheivements, and the movement she is making toward a greater good.  Overall, though, it opened my eyes to what women are subjected to abroad.

Amazon book description:

Born in a village deep in the Cambodian forest, Somaly Mam was sold into sexual slavery by her grandfather when she was twelve years old. For the next decade she was shuttled through the brothels that make up the sprawling sex trade of Southeast Asia. Trapped in this dangerous and desperate world, she suffered the brutality and horrors of human trafficking—rape, torture, deprivation—until she managed to escape with the help of a French aid worker. Emboldened by her newfound freedom, education, and security, Somaly blossomed but remained haunted by the girls in the brothels she left behind.

Written in exquisite, spare, unflinching prose, The Road of Lost Innocence recounts the experiences of her early life and tells the story of her awakening as an activist and her harrowing and brave fight against the powerful and corrupt forces that steal the lives of these girls. She has orchestrated raids on brothels and rescued sex workers, some as young as five and six; she has built shelters, started schools, and founded an organization that has so far saved more than four thousand women and children in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. Her memoir will leave you awestruck by her tenacity and courage and will renew your faith in the power of an individual to bring about change.