Town of Love Format: Paperback

With insight and brutal honesty, this book paints a vivid picture of some of the world's most vulnerable women and children. Called “women of love,” very young girls make up a workforce tasked with feeding their families by offering their bodies up for sale. It is a tradition practiced for centuries by the poorest families who live by sending their daughters, sisters, and wives into sex trafficking. Baby girls are welcome arrivals in these towns of love—everyone knows that one day they will be the breadwinners, despite being untouchable and despised by Indian society. Tamanna dares to break free of this legacy of prostitution, even though it also means being shunned by her entire family. As a 19-year-old she runs away, an action which costs her dearly: she is forced to leave her five-year-old daughter Rupa behind with Jabbar, in the house with the big gleaming knife. Eight years later, Tamanna knows that time is running out for Rupa, and she demands help, both from the police and from the underfunded aid organization Pukaar, forcing them to consider whether they can look a mother in the face and argue that saving her daughter isn’t worth risking everything.

Anne Ch. Ostby is a Norwegian newspaper journalist and an author of seven books for children and young adults. She has been involved in women's projects and initiatives all over the world. Town of Love is her second book for adults.