Title- Slave: The True Story of a Girl's Lost Childhood and Her Fight for Survival
Author- Mende Nazer and Damien Lewis
Publisher- Hachette Digital
Pages- 328
Rating- 4/5
Summary- Mende Nazer was only around twelve when she was abducted by Arab militants from her village in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. Her life in bondage started in an Arab household in Khartoum and continued in London. This book tells us about her childhood, her life as a slave and finally her escape from captivity.
Review- The life of the Nuba people has been beautifully portrayed here. It was unknown to me that one can use gourds to store water or food, make sounds with cow horns to call people or consider scar as something which enhances beauty. It is sad to know how the indigenous people are oppressed by the Sudanese Arabs. Mende along with some of her Nuba classmates were forbidden to speak the Nuba language even amongst themselves and their Nuba names were replaced by Arabic names. The Nuba villages are often attacked by Arabs where entire villages are looted, burnt down, people are tortured, raped, abused or burnt alive inside their homes. Damien Lewis did an excellent job in articulating Mende's thoughts into words.
When Mende was growing up under the love and care of her parents and siblings, little did she know how horrific her life would become as a captive. In a family where her parents were illiterate, she used to secure the first position in her class and dream of becoming a doctor, but destiny landed her in her master's house where she had to work throughout the day, was regularly tortured and had to feed on leftovers. When she came to Khartoum she was shocked to meet middle aged Asha who had been living as a slave since her childhood. However it was Mende's strong willpower and faith in herself which made her different from others and ultimately earned her freedom.
Chapter 7 (The Cutting Time) where female circumcision has been described is not for the tender-hearted.
It is extremely woeful to know that ages after slavery had been officially abolished ,it is still prevalent in countries like Sudan. People who are interested in reading non-fiction should definitely give it a try. It will also strike a chord with the fiction lovers as goes the saying that "truth is stranger than fiction".
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