Imprint
- Virago
Biography: general, Prose: non-fiction
The true story of an orphaned Cambodian girl who spent her childhood in slavery and prostitution and now combats trafficking. Somaly Mam has a strong international profile and supporters include Hillary Clinton, the Queen of Spain and Angelina Jolie.
Somaly Mam was abandoned as a baby and looked after by her grandmother until she disappeared. She was then taken into the care of a man she called 'grandfather', but was treated no better than an unpaid servant. Raped at twelve, Somaly was forced to marry at fifteen and then sold to a brothel. She endured years of abuse before managing to escape.
THE ROAD OF LOST INNOCENCE is a moving account of a traumatic childhood and also the inspirational story of a determined and courageous woman devoted to helping other girls caught up in the illegal sex trade and violent underworld in Cambodia.
In 1997 Somaly Mam co-founded AFESIP to combat trafficking in women and children for sexual slavery.
Praise for The Road Of Lost Innocence
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** 'Sold into prostitution in Cambodia as a small child, Mam has survived a trauma that is almost beyond the imaginative reach of memoir ... driven by a sense of purpose greater than the self, and related with a haunting directness - GUARDIAN
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** 'Somaly Mam is my candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. She is living proof that one woman can change the fate of others - AYAAN HIRSI ALI
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** 'Written deftly and sparely, this story easily transcends the current rash of 'misery - life-stories. Somaly Mam has no truck with sensationalism or self pity: action for change is patently what she is all about.'
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GOOD HOUSEKEEPING - ** 'This is a book about how one person's courage can make a difference'
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