Mende Nazer

In 1994, when Mende Nazer was roughly 12 years old, Mujahideen raided her village. They raped women, cut the throats of many people, and set the huts on fire. Mende and other children in her tribe were carried away from their home in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. They were sexually violated, transported north, and taken into slavery in Khartoum.

This autobiography/memoir written with British journalist Damien Lewis tells Nazer’s story. It is informative about the culture of the Nuba people show more and often compelling. My chief quibble with the book is that the first person voice in which it is written—Mende’s—doesn’t sound like her, or at least what I’d expect her to sound like. The sophisticated vocabulary is definitely that of the journalist.

I can imagine that it took some work for Lewis to turn Mende’s hazy, impressionistic memories of early childhood into novelistic scenes. However, the reconstruction of events and dialogue—the authorial embellishments—sometimes detracted from, rather than enhanced, attempts at verisimilitude. They made the narrative seem less true than a more simple telling might have done.

Having said all this, I’m not at all sorry to have read the book. I learned a great deal, and a number of gaps in my knowledge of the Second Sudanese Civil War were filled in. show less

Mende Nazer's absorbing account of her abduction and her many years as a slave for rich Arabs is as harrowing to read today as when it was written more than 10 years ago. I expect little has changed in the situation she describes with such horror. The first part of the book, about her childhood in Southern Sudan is equally an eye opener, but for a very different reason: She describes a warm and including close-knit and well-developed society with strong family values, and a great sense of show more humour and joy. Still, one of the most horrific scenes takes place before her abduction, as she is circumcised the traditional way as a young girl. This vile practice is as abhorrent as the slave trade. The book is co-written by film maker and journalist Damien Lewis, a true story teller. show less

Slavery is, unfortunately, alive and well in today's world. Arab mujahedin conduct regular raids the Nuba mountains of Sudan, and Mende Nazer was about 12 years old when she was captured in one such raid, in 1994. To the shouts of "Allahu Ahkhbar! Allahu Ahkhbar!" ("God is great!") Arab raiders swept through her pastoral and peaceful village, burning, raping, and slaughtering as they sought to capture as many village children as they could.

These children, often raped by their captors, are show more taken to larger towns and cities and sold as abeed, the Arabic word for slaves. Mende Nazer's story is the account of one abda's (slave) life in captivity.

Mende was a slave for two well-off Arab families; both Muslims, as she is. She points out the irony that both her captors and her "masters" considered themselves devout Muslims at the same time that they beat her, treated her worse than a dog or a cat, and constantly told her she was nothing but a stinking black savage.

Her book paints a picture of a culture that seems based on racial discrimination and hatred -- a culture that does not even give lip service to the notion of equality and fairness. Her very humanity was denied by her mistresses -- her childhood subsumed in an endless round of drudgery. She ate her masters' leftover food, and had to scrape their leftovers into her own special dishes, as she was not allowed to drink or eat from the family's kitchenware -- lest her dirty blackness rub off on it.

Her story, unfortunately, is not unique. What makes Mende's story stand out is that eventually she got up the courage to ask for help, and was fortunate enough to find people willing to help her escape slavery and find asylum in England.

What made this story stand out for me was Mende's account of the several times she passed up opportunities to escape her captivity -- not just because of fear, but because by then she had internalized and accepted her unworthiness to be free. Her account of how she came to believe that it was her destiny to be a slave, of how she came to accept her masters' valuation of her, was not only shocking, but revelatory. From the story of the Israelite slave generation in the Old Testament, who were deliberately condemned to die in the desert because they would always be slaves in their hearts, to the young Mormon girl who was kidnapped by a fanatic couple in Utah a few years ago and seemed to cooperate in her captivity -- the devastating and dehumanizing effects of slavery span eras and cultures.

This is a must-read book for those who naively think that all cultures share a basic belief in fairness, equity, and compassion towards others. show less

When I first took a class called "The Literature of American Slavery", I couldn't believe that slavery existed in America only 140 years ago. After reading a number of narratives describing the horrors of slavery, I was relieved that those horrors no longer existed. ...Boy, did this book prove me WRONG!

No - slavery did not end with the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution! As Mende Nazer has shown, it is very much alive in the Sudan and elsewhere. Her show more story about her capture and subsequent enslavement is certainly an eye-opener!

In addition to an extremely powerful anti-slavery statement, this book also teaches us so much on an antrhropological, sociological & historical level! The first section of the book, for instance, is a fascinating account of the traditional lifestyle in the Nuba Mountains. Included here are descriptions of the close-knit family/community ties, recreational activities such as inter-village wrestling matches, and finally,rituals such as female circumcision.

Next, it provides reader with a highly readable history lesson. It teaches us about the political and social turmoil in the Sudan. It delves into the subjugation of the black Africans by certain Arab communities and reminds us of the genocide inflicted throughout the country.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who really wants to open their eyes to the injustices of the world! Thank you, Ms. Nazer, for telling your story! show less