Already buried alive

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I can count on two hands the number of things I have taken for granted in my life, and while some may say that is not many, I beg to differ after reading about Lakshmi.  You think life is tough until you read about a 13-year-old child sold for sex by her gambling-addicted stepfather and having a mother who has no say.  Throughout this entire book, I found myself continuously heartbroken and hugging my daughter a little tighter time after time.  To travel so far from home to an unfamiliar destination only to find out that you were sold for sex and not maid services at the mere age of 13 is just entirely devastating and unimaginable. 

When Lakshmi says's "On those nights I lie restless in the sleeping loft, wondering what the world is like beyond my mountain home" (McCormick 9); I feel a sense of defeat for her. Lakshmi wanted the world beyond her home mountain to be the right place, and the happiness house took that from her. It makes me wonder if she will ever be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know she will never fully recover from having that idea taken from her but will she ever have hopeful ideas again? 

Comments

  1. Nalayna HyattOctober 2, 2020 at 9:22 PM

    Kels, this novel really is a reminder of the horror that exists in the world and for sure made me grateful for the good things in my life. It can be hard to imagine that this is a very real reality for some when you have never experienced it yourself, but it's more real than we would like to imagine. I have no doubt that her life and mentality changed after that experience and my heart breaks for her.

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  2. Callum CarrOctober 3, 2020 at 5:38 PM

    I completely understand everything you felt while reading this book. There were countless times when I was reading that I had to put the book down and go do something else because it was such a heavy subject. But then I'd realize how 'unfair' that was: I could just close the book and stop walking beside Lakshmi during her story, but there are hundreds of thousands of girls throughout the world who can't just close their story and walk away. I think books like this one are some of the most important we can read because of how emotionally devastating they are. I think the most devastating books are also some of the most educational.

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