Perseus Academic: Slave by Mende Nazer

At age twelve, Mende Nazer lost her childhood. It began one horrific night in 1993, when Arab raiders swept through her Nuba village, setting fire to the village huts and murdering the adults. They rounded up thirty-one young children, including Mende, who was eventually sold to a wealthy Arab family in Sudan’s capital city, Khartoum. So began Mende’s seven dark years of enslavement. Normally, Mende’s story never would have come to light, but when she was sent to work for another master—a diplomat working in London—she made a dramatic break for freedom. Published to critical acclaim for the honesty and clarity of its prose, Slave is a story almost beyond belief. It depicts the strength and dignity of the Nuba tribe. It recounts the savage cruelty of the secret, modern-day trade in slaves. Most of all, it is “a profound meditation on the human ability to survive under virtually any circumstances.” (Publishers Weekly)

Mende Nazer is approximately twenty-three years old (the Nuba keep no record of birth dates). She was granted political asylum by the British government in 2003. She currently lives in London.

Damien Lewis is a British journalist who has reported widely from Sudan and helped Mende escape. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.