Elastic Girl
Posted on 03. May, 2018, in Book Reviews, Christian Values, Slavery, Young people2 Comments
Elastic Girl, a book by Olivia Rana, tells the story of a young girl, Muthu Tikaram, whose family find themselves destitute and end up selling her to a Circus. Like many girls who are sold or trafficked, Mathu believes that life in the Circus will lead to great new adventures and hopes that maybe one day she’ll end up a star like her favourite Bollywood idols.
The reality of the situation soon hits her and she realises that she has been transported in a world of misery and abuse.
Miriam Gormally met with Olivia, who was inspired in part to write Elastic Girl by the work of photographer Mary Ellen Mark, who captured evocative images of child circus performers in India. She also drew on the work of Child Rescue Nepal (formerly the Esther Benjamins Trust), a charity that are actively helping to rescue and rehabilitate children that have been trafficked into slavery.
She hopes that Elastic Girl will help to highlight the issue of child trafficking, which is a worldwide problem, but particularly prevalent in destitute and vulnerable societies.
15% of profit from each book will go towards the work of Child Rescue Nepal.
The book can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or Kindle version – Elastic Girl
Great piece. Well done Olivia for shining a spotlight on Child Trafficking.
How good to hear the dreadful situation of trafficking told in a new context. How families can be prey to being exploited seems to be well expressed here.