Sold by Patricia McCormick

I recently listened to the unabridged audio version of Sold by Patricia McCormick and narrated by Justine Eyre. Playing time for this audiobook is approximately 3 hours, 44 minutes.

I initially had a difficult time adjusting to the strong accent narrator, Justine Eyre, had while she read Sold. But eventually, I grew to like Justine Eyre's narration of Sold.

I thought that Sold was extremely well written. It's a sad, tragic story really... A young girl is sold unknowingly by her family into prostitution. They think she'll be a house maid to a wealthy family...  Little do they know!

The following is the Publisher's Summary from Audible:

Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family. He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at "Happiness House" full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution. 

An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning. She tells Lakshmi that she is trapped there until she can pay off her family's debt - then cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave. Lakshmi's life becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape. Still, she lives by her mother's words - simply to endure is to triumph - and gradually, she forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a decision - will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life? 

Written in spare and evocative vignettes, this powerful novel renders a world that is as unimaginable as it is real, and a girl who not only survives but triumphs.

Even though, Sold deals with the topic of prostitution and sexual slavery of young girls, it's a really good read.

I'm giving Sold a rating of 8 stars out of 10 stars!

Until my next post, happy reading!!