****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
In one word: Wow! Tikiri Herath’s breakout debut novel Disowned is every bit as thrilling to read as it is deeply disturbing. Tackling a subject as soul shattering as the human trafficking of small girls is a monumental and risky endeavor, and one that Ms. Herath navigates brilliantly. There are only two possible ways to tell this story—plumbing the dark depths of despair, or soaring lightly over the subject, unwilling to dive too close to the painful truth—and yet Herath somehow takes us along on a third path, one that celebrates the spirit of relentless survival, the ultimate unwillingness of her protagonist, Asha, to bend to the forces that threaten to break her.As an orphan myself—and one who as a result endured great physical abuse and two years of incarceration in a Texas juvenile detention facility, starting at age three—sixty years later I can still recognize the tender honesty of Herath’s portrayal of young Asha. The self-doubts and insecurities, the confused vulnerability, but, in the end, the burning ember of survival at all costs that ultimately forges an iron backbone deep within her soul, finally giving Asha the strength to fight back against her many tormentors.I first read Disowned quickly like a guilty pleasure, savoring the quick pacing and countless plot twists. But then I immediately returned to the book and read it once more, slowly, just to better appreciate the author’s subtle insight into Asha’s plight, and the way culture too often becomes a cage that imprisons us all. This is not a book to keep to yourself. As Herath herself notes, the issues she has raised in this book are all too often ignored in our society, brushed under the proverbial rug by unbridled power and privilege, and if she had taken this story down a darker path it might have been far too troubling for some readers, particularly younger minds. But I would urge you to share this tale with the women in your life, young as well as old, and use it to inspire outrage at the wholesale destruction of young lives that this story so adeptly chronicles. Outrage that itself might help to inspire change, and hope for a future where young ladies like Asha can themselves find some semblance of hope in their futures. And, one final note—the author donates ten percent of the proceeds from each sale to global charities for the empowerment and education of women around the world, so by buying Disowned and its sequels you immediately make a small but powerful difference in these women’s lives. And when was the last time you could say that about a book that could very well change your life, as well?
