Customer Reviews

The Road of Lost Innocence: As a girl she was sold into sexual slavery, but now she rescues others. The true story of a Cambodian heroine.

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam is a heart-breaking story of a woman's fight out of slavery and her quest to save others from suffering as she did. Somaly was raised in the forests of Cambodia in a primitive tribe without electricity or running water. Living in the remote jungles, her parents abandoned her and left her with a grandmother who then died before Somaly could remember any of them. She raised herself until the age of eleven, sleeping in a hammock, fishing for some meals, and receiving some little care from the rest of the villagers. At eleven, a man claiming to be her grandfather took her to a larger city and used her as slave labor, beating her and forcing her to work for others as well. She learned how to read at a small school run by a man who claimed to be her uncle and tried to do his weak best by her. At fifteen, her grandfather sold her into a violent marriage with a soldier, until he disappeared, and the grandfather appeared again to sell her into a brothel in Phnom Phen. There Somaly was raped and beaten until all of her will was driven out of her, and the fight to survive overcame the desire to be free. Eventually a French aid worker came to her aid, and Somaly was able to break free of this devastating life. But Somaly is more than the average women. She was unwilling to let other women suffer as she did, so she began distributing condoms to the brothels, and then opened a home to take in girls who fled their life of forced prostitution. She has faced threats, including the kidnapping of one of her daughters, but has emerged unwilling to bend again. Her story is amazing and awful, not something that is easily considered. It's much easier to skim over the details and refuse to internalize them. But when I read about men raping 5 and 6 year old girls and then pimps sewing the girls up again so they can be sold as "virgins", and then look at my own 5-1/2 year old daughter, my heart is broken. I can't imagine the degradation that these girls suffer daily. Somaly tells her story in raw, harsh words. They are not prettied up, nor does she gloss over what she has faced. This book needs to be read to expose the world to the truths about what is going on in Cambodia to these young girls. A portion of the profits from this book go to Somaly's charity that helps free girls from their abuse, and I know that her foundation is one that I will be donating to in the future.

Wow. I want to say there are no words to describe what this book will make you feel, but I'm going to try anyway.
Somaly Mam is the kind of person we all hope we could be, were we faced with the horrors she has lived. Sexual slavery, rape, abuse - she survived all these and has been brave enough to share her story with us. She recounts her experiences in a raw, unflinching tone, experiences which could break the strongest of us. And although Somaly escaped her own dark path, she has never left that world behind, but instead returns time and again to rescue other girls trapped in brothels, girls sometimes as young as four or five, girls who have been sold into sexual slavery.
Her story is amazing, the world she describes is horrifying, and in the end if you have not been moved to tears, then you are not human.
But this book is not just intended as a voyeuristic window into a world we should condemn. It is a necessary education for those of us who are lucky enough to live in a world where sexual slavery is a remote problem. And if, like me, you finish the book and find yourself enraged at what is being done, then you might do what I did and google her name, and find her foundation's website: www.somaly.org. There is something we can all do to help, and after reading this book you just might need to.

"The Road to Lost Innocence" by Somaly Mam touched me so deeply that I must recommend this novel! Her writing style is simple and easy to grasp, allowing the reader to become so engrossed in this tragic and compelling story. She brings Cambodia to life through its interesting foods, fascinating customs and graphic description of the ethnic separation of the people. Through her words, I have sampled the region's oppression under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Her descriptions of the horrors of being torn away from everything familiar at the age of 9 or 10 by a stranger that promised to reunite Somaly with her parents were tempered by shining moments of kindness and hope in the midst of this tragic existence, revealing God's care and provision.

This book takes you through the tragedy that was Somaly's life to where she escaped and now rescues others. It made me smile. It made me weep. It made me angry. It made me think of (and pray for) all the people trapped in the sex slavery trade. It made me realize that I don't have a care in the world compared to those who are victimized by this very real horror everyday. It made me want to make a difference. I pray it makes you want to change the world, too.

I just returned from a mission trip to Cambodia where we visited orphanages & womens' shelters who have been rescued out of sexual slavery. This book is a MUST read, & I'm so thankful People magazine ran an article on the book, or I may never have heard of it. Incredible memoir of an outstanding woman, Somalay Mam is a true heroe!

Caution: This book is written in a heart-wrenching, raw, unflinching manner and does not shy away from describing some of the horrific abuse that Somaly and countless thousands of other young girls have endured. Though I think it is critical for adults to be shaken out of their comfort zone--and this book has the power to sear one for a lifetime--I would keep this book away from any reader under age 18, unless she was reading it with the constant oversight and guidance of a parent. That said, I think this kind of book--reality--needs to be read far more than fiction which gets far more graphic. This is real life for thousands of little girls. We can't hide from that, and I think we need to be shaken up a bit if such will change the way we view this issue.

"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" (From the book synopsis).

You will cry, you will shudder, you will feel sick to your stomach if you have the courage to let the truth enter your world. There are consequences to knowing the truth. When we know the truth, God holds us responsible to act on it...to order our lives around it. If you read this book you cannot ignore these girls' need to be rescued and healed. What if it were your little sister or your daughter?

Obviously these girls need help. But God does not need any one of us. This post is not an attempted guilt trip to prod readers to help. On the contrary, to be part of the hand of God to these, the least of these is what Christianity is all about (James 1:27) and it is both an honor and a privilege to be involved. I am blessed to be able to help and want as many of you as possible to get that same opportunity.

Some books are dangerous; reading them opens your eyes and makes you see the world around you in a different way. After reading them this new understanding of reality lingers and is not easily dismissed. Stories like these drive you to action, serving as a call to take up arms. Somaly Mam's memoir, The Road of Lost Innocence, is one such book.

Born in Cambodia during years of political turmoil, Somaly never knew her parents - she still doesn't know what became of them. Left by her grandmother in a tribal village, her early years were spent outdoors, roaming amongst the huts looking for food. These years were happy compared to those that would follow after leaving northern Cambodia with a man who claimed to know of her parents at the age of six.

This man, her "grandfather" would proceed to beat and molest her, sell her virginity to pay his debts at the age of 11, marry her to an abusive husband at the age of fourteen and finally sell her to a brothel at 16. As you can imagine Somaly's story is not an easy, feel good read. The list of travesties, betrayals and corruption she has known is far too lengthy to detail here.

Catching glimpses of a better life, Somaly is eventually able to escape from the bondage of sexual slavery. Using the only currency at her disposal she begins to make alliances with foreign men - those with wealth and power - and uses them to begin her slow ascent out of prostitution. After achieving her freedom the girls she left behind haunt her. Knowing the devastation trafficking in girl-flesh wreaks she cannot stand motionless while atrocities are committed; hopefully you won't be able to either when this story comes to a close.

Presented in spare, matter of fact prose the writing itself mimics the Cambodian attitude towards life; silent, understated. Coming from a people who disguise their emotions to the utmost - simply writing this memoir is a break with traditional Cambodian culture. Somaly however, has long since ceased to be a traditional Cambodian.

The words seek to describe without betraying the depths of emotional pain behind them, but it still seeps through. Between each and every line, in the silences and pauses the pain is there alongside the fear and anger. The Road of Lost Innocence is the anguished soul cry of a woman who has never truly been loved, the heart breaking sobs of a shattered little girl.

Somaly brutally exposes the truth of modern sexual trafficking in south-east Asia through her own story and that of those she has rescued from slavery. She outlines the beginnings of her non-profit organizations that rescue girls and women from brothels, sketching out plans for their reintegration into society. Free of her physical bonds and able to offer hope to those in chains, she remains a broken woman. The aching sadness created throughout her life's circumstances is still present; only slightly mitigated by her relentless drive to rescue the weak and defend the defenseless.

She tells her story not to evoke sympathy for herself, though her pain is apparent. She writes, offering herself up to the public eye to draw attention to the plight of the girls and women who are still captive; taken against their will and viciously used. Somaly truly wants nothing for herself other than the opportunity to continue working with the victims of sexual trafficking and to draw awareness to their plight.

Truly, every responsible citizen of the world should engage Somaly's work. The difficult stories need to be told, more than that - they must be acted upon. Only with eyes opened to the atrocities surrounding us can we step out in faith, reaching into the darkness to rescue those bound there.

This was a very good book on giving an overview of the sex slave industry and what is done to many young woman and children all over the world. There were times I had to put it down and come back later; especially during the victims chapter. A good read and very eye opening.

I can NOT imagine anyone finishing this book, putting it down, and moving on in life without reacting practically. Without helping with at least a token monetary effort to improve the world described in these pages. The unflinching manner in which Mam relates the stories of sexually enslaved Cambodian women and children simply smacks you in the face.

Mam suggests an explanation for why Cambodia has reached such a point of moral deterioration. "Three decades of bombing, genocide, and starvation and now my country is in a state of moral bankruptcy. . . . During the Khmer Rouge regime people detached themselves from any kind of human feeling, because feeling meant pain. . . . To avoid going mad, they shrank to the smallest part of a human, which is 'me.'"

Read this book and you will step outside that smallest part of a human. You will want to help. That, in itself, is an excellent reason for Mam's having written her story.

"The Road of Lost Innocence" by Somaly Mam starts out reminding me of the novel, "Green Mansions" by W. H. Hudson. A deep forest that hides the innocence and beauty of a young girl. In the book, "Green Mansions" the forest protected "Rima" (the bird girl). In "The Road of Lost Innocence" the forest surrounds and devours Somaly Mam.

The fairytale forest world in Cambodia soon becomes a "hunting ground" for abominable acts of perversion, and genocide. Author, Somaly Mam becomes one of many young victims taken and sold into the dark alleyways of rape and child prostitution. She finds herself caught in a filthy and despicable "hell on earth." Somaly was actually sold into this diabolical world by family members in an effort to make money and "pay off debts" that ... "they" had incurred.

Ms. Mam realistically acknowledges that in Cambodia (as well as numerous other Asian countries i.e.: Vietnam, Thailand, etc), parents, and other family members are void of any feelings have to do with guilt, because their children are their property, and basically; "money on legs, an asset, a kind of domestic livestock."

Somaly Mam spends numerous years as a prostitute in this ugly world and is repeatedly raped, beaten, and tortured throughout her tenure. Despite her sad fate, she eventually brakes out of this "bubble world" through the assistance of several European clients. With their help, Somaly educates herself, tempers her tenacious spirit, and returns to the gutters of Cambodia with a mission of saving others who suffered the same fate.

In that process, Somaly and her French husband founded AFESIP (Acting for Women in Distressing Situations). This organization along with the newly formed "Somaly Mam Foundation" has continued to help thousands of young victims reintegrate into society as useful and healthy individuals. Ms. Mam is in my mind, a younger Asian version of Mother Teresa.

Most of the actual writing itself is in a direct straightforward and no nonsensical format. However, I felt a great deal of her story line and character application was redundant throughout the book. None the less, this is not a fairytale you would want to read to your children. This is a true and unequivocal horror story that will not easily fade from your mind or... your aching heart.

This is the most amazing, compelling book I have ever read. It reveals what mainstream media ignores: the severe level of violence and human suffering that young women and children endure on a daily basis in the hands of Human Traffickers. It also explains the social, cultural, political, and economic factors that shape this multi-billion-dollar industry. The world needs to wake up to Human Trafficking. This book will open your eyes. She pulls no punches. It is not for the faint of heart. As deep and dark as it is, it also inspires by showing how amazing things can happen when enough people care. MB