BOOK DESCRIPTION
A nebulous memory. Caught in a dangerous trap. A life-changing discovery.
When Yalina wakes in hospital following surgery, she doesn’t recognise her own parents.
Following her release, she decides to meet her estranged brother, Ali, in Sheffield. On her arrival, Yalina is taken to a house where girls are held against their will and forced into sex slavery. Too late, she realises she has fallen into a trap.
Over time, Yalina discovers a love of playing the old piano that lives in the house. It keeps her sane. As friendships blossom between the women, Yalina finds herself taking a young girl, Rebecca, under her wing.
When the women are threatened with violence, Yalina reluctantly accepts help from a stranger she met in the house. But he carries a secret that could impact on her whole life.
Will Yalina escape her captors? And how will she cope with the unexpected revelation?
Generally fictional stories with a plot involving the sex trade has a main character who is either a detective or a parent who is searching for their kidnapped child. Case in point, the brilliant Taken starring the one and only Liam Neeson (mmmm, Liam Neeson, oops sorry I got a bit distracted there) Occasionally you might be given a glimpse into the captive's world but they are are usually a secondary character and you follow the story from the heroe's perspective. This dark and hard hitting read is written almost entirely from the perspective of Yalina, a Pakistani woman who finds herself being held prisoner in a isolated house and forced to work in the sex trade. She and the other females who are also being held captive are forced to live in horrific conditions,are hardly given any food and have to live with the constant threat of violence from their captors Jonno and his psychopathic,sadistic colleague Keith. As time passed in the hell hole that they were forced to call home,the women started to form bonds and Yalina found herself developing close friendships with young Rebecca and Gillian who was heavily pregnant. But even in a world where you would expect the women to support each other and have each others backs,betrayal is hiding within the filthy rooms and unwashed bodies. Someone is not who they appear to be, someone who is cruel,cunning and very manipulative.
The other women living in the house were a mixed bag of diverse,realistic individuals and personalities, some were very emotional whilst others had become so conditioned by their treatment and living conditions that they had essentially just given up and become compliant and obedient zombies.
I really cannot understand how some humans can treat their fellow humans so callously and with such a shocking disregard for their care and well being. The treatment that the women received was heart breaking,difficult to read at times and made the more shocking by the horrible truth that there is in reality innocent victims of all ages living in the same conditions and with the same fear,every minute of everyday all over the world.
As the story unfolded,I was never sure how I felt about Yalina, there was times that I liked her and times that I didnt. She was a gutsy, strong willed,stubborn individual who became like the mother hen of the house and wasn't scared to stand up for herself and the other women. She kept herself sane by playing music on the old piano whenever she got the opportunity and was determined that one day she and the others would be rescued or escape from their living nightmare.
Interspersed throughout the book was chapters that were narrated from the perspective of a character called Richard. He was divorced,lived in London and had a son called George and a daughter called Zoe but how did he fit into Yalina's story and what was his shocking secret?
This is a very well written,dark,gritty,character driven debut that causes the reader to experience a wide range of emotions. The author's descriptions of the women's reactions when they discovered some strawberries were heart breaking. The subject matter was hard hitting but the author had written Yalina's story with care and sensitivity and it wasn't overly graphic. I thought this was a captivating,very enjoyable read and I look forward to reading many more of this author's books in the future.
About Sophie Morton-Thomas:
Sophie Morton-Thomas is a British writer based in West Sussex where she lives with her husband and children. She's an English teacher by day and a Creative Writing Master's degree student and writer in her spare time. Travel by night is her first novel, and is based in Sheffield, where she lived for a number of years.
Social Media:
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Published in paperback and digital formats by Darkstroke Books on 15th January 2021
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2YaDgBK
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3iQKiFH
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