Review: The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam

Genre: Memoir
Series: No
Pages: 197
Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Buy:Amazon

Summary:
The subheading "The true story of a Cambodian heroine" is a good way of describing what Somaly has done for young girls sold into sexual slavery in Cambodia and Southeast Asia. The blurb on the cover "As a girl she was sold into sexual slavery, but now she rescues others." is fitting. The story starts with her as a child in a small village where she has been left by her parents and her grandmother. From this village she is taken by a man who she calls grandfather, presumably just an older man who uses her as labor, and who later sells her to the brothel. Somaly now runs a center for girls who have been sold into brothels and escaped from them. Her story has brought the problem of sex trafficking to international attention. She runs Acting for Women in Distressing Situations (AFESIP) in Cambodia which helps former prostitutes gain life skills which they can use to support themselves. AFESIP also provides a safe place for the girls to regain their confidence before they enter society.

Feelings:
The Road of Lost Innocence is a book of bravery. Somaly had to have courage to reveal her life in a book which anyone can read. Her story is one which can speak to all people. To make her story as vibrant as it is she had to fully open herself and those around her to the pain that she went through and is still with her.

This is not an easy book to read as it is not about an easy topic. This is a book about human suffering that women and girls endure. Being forced to sell oneself for profit by family members because you are a girl and not worth anything to your family is hard to read about. One wonders how a mother would be able to let their child go so easily. Somaly is a strong woman who deserves the respect of all women for her ability to help so many girls out of a life which she lived through and is still haunted by.

The beginning of the book starts with a statistic, which I know many will find hard to comprehend or will not want to look at.

"By far the lowest statistic for the number of prostitutes and sex slaves in Cambodia is between 40,000 and 50,000. It can be expect that at least 1 in 40 girls born in Cambodia will be sold into sex slavery," from a 2005 report by Future Group. 

These are dismal numbers but the book is one woman's story of living through being a sex slave, and her life now as she tries to help others. This is a book which should be read in high schools and colleges to gain an outside perspective of the lives of individuals in third world countries.

I highly recommend this The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine by Somaly Mam. It might not be an easy subject to read about, but the book is not all dark.