Town of Love

Overview

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.

Reviews

“Finally, an engaging novel that sees beyond our tiny, Norwegian lives . . . Ostby has included a glimmer of hope into this novel, which is based on her own numerous visits to the prostitutes in northern India: Some of the women do escape the wheels of karma. It is the theme which carries Town of Love. Not that the language is poor. Ostby knows her India, and her writing is clear and unsentimental.”  —Dagbladet

“A strong and engaging story . . . a novel definitely worth reading.”   —Sandefjords Blad  

“Anne Ostby's portrayal of the Nats is horrifying, but also beautiful. Her novel depicts the most degrading of attitudes towards women, but at the same time conveys love, hope, compassion, and warmth. The author describes an India which sadly exists for real to this day. [Told] in a well-flowing language which enables us to smell and sense our way through the very darkest alleys of India. But more than anything Town of Love portrays women supporting women. How they do it with an indomitable courage in spite of hostility, scorn, and beatings by corrupt policemen and violent family members. The book is truly, as the epilogue points out, an important chapter in the fight against slavery. That in itself is reason enough to read this novel, an unsentimental depiction of the fear of women and the lust of men. And of what a few brave women can achieve."  —Troender-Avisa

“Having personally met the survivors of trafficking about whom this is written, I know that Anne Ostby’s novel deserves world attention. It is the essence of a terrible truth that must be exposed.”  —Gloria Steinem

“A forceful and brutal novel about powerlessness, but also a heart-warming story about love—and about hope. It's a novel that wakes you up, that makes you reflect on the value of a human being!”  —Anne Schaffer, Tara Magazine

"I recommend this book for all readers who appreciate how people manage to act as human beings in situations that deny their humanity." —Me, You and Books

Author Biography

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.