Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

forced prostitution

One thing I've never had to worry about when interviewing for a job

I’ve had my share of job interviews in my working years: at a radio station, a movie theater, college newspaper office, two daily newspaper companies, a bus magazine, a curriculum company, a non-profit. Never in all of those interviews did I have to worry about becoming a slave.

Overworked? Yes.

Underpaid? Yes.

Unappreciated? Yes.

Fired? Yes.

Enslaved? No.

That’s Anna’s story. anchiliexodusroad

Investigators working with The Exodus Road met Anna and Sophia, two European women, working the streets in Southeast Asia in the fall of this year. Anna was promised a job in Southeast Asia–maybe it was cleaning houses or being a nanny–and an income that would support her and her family. She arrived to a much different scenario.

A sex trafficker took her passport and said she owed him $5,000 (US) for the ticket and her housing. To “work off” her debt, Anna and Sophia now work a red-light district in Southeast Asia making about $50 a night. Even if Anna could work off her debt, the scars–physical and mental–of the abuse she has suffered will follow her.

ER-crowd-night

She just wanted a job. To help her family. To escape poverty.

Now she is trapped, forced to sell herself night after night to pay a debt to her captors.

Anna and Sophia’s stories have been documented by The Exodus Road investigators but pursuing a case against the traffickers is in the hands of local non-governmental organizations. The Exodus Road can provide funding and personnel in pursuing this case to conviction. In the meantime, two girls wait on a street corner, cigarettes in their hands, wearing tall heels or trendy high-tops, mini-skirts and make-up, trying to catch the eye of a Western tourist or a local passing by, looking for drinks or fun, parties or sex.

Click here to find out how you can help The Exodus Road help girls like Anna and Sophia.

A warm story for a cold night: a review of Unending Devotion by Jody Hedlund

It’s no secret: Jody Hedlund is one of my new favorite authors. She is skilled at taking historical people and events, wrapping them in a compelling plot, and writing can’t-put-them-down novels. Her two previous releases The Preacher’s Bride and The Doctor’s Lady are fun AND informative. Hedlund does her research.

And as much as I enjoyed those books, I LOVED her latest, Unending Devotion, even more. I was looking forward to the release so much that I bought an ebook copy before I’d heard that I’d be given a copy from the publisher to review. (So, lucky you, I’m going to give my copy away! Read on to find out how to win.)

Unending Devotion is the story of a passionate woman driven to make things right. Lily Young travels through Central Michigan logging towns in search of her sister, whom she fears is living in forced prostitution. Along the way, she rescues other women caught in the bondage of an overlooked slavery. In one such town, she meets Connell McCormick (who is just as enchanting on the page as his name sounds!), whom she doesn’t realize is the son of a lumber baron.

Sparks fly between the two, who don’t see eye-to-eye when it comes to the lumber business and the houses of ill repute that some think are necessary for a logging camp to thrive. Lily is reckless when it comes to tracking down her sister. Connell is cautious and eager to please his father. Both are in search of truth and freedom, and it’s a journey I couldn’t turn away from.

I don’t often read a work of fiction twice, but I would read this book again.

Lily is an inspiring heroine, even if she is sometimes blinded to danger by her love for her sister. And Connell is a conflicted hero who wants to do right by everybody but finds himself needing to choose whom he’s going to please and whether the consequences of that choice will be worth it.

This is a beautiful story of calling, purpose, freedom, redemption and love. And while the characters themselves are fictional, the circumstances about which Hedlund writes are historical. I’ve learned a lot lately about the current tragedy of human sex trafficking but never considered that sexual slavery is not a new problem, and even in the 19th century in the United States, it was a problem.

I would 100 percent recommend this book. Total winner.

If you still aren’t convinced, then check out the book trailer below. You won’t be sorry about reading this book.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OssvMSaSeQ4&feature=g-upl]

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In exchange for my review, I received a free copy of Unending Devotion from Bethany House Publishers.

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AND NOW … the moment you’ve all been waiting for! I have ONE copy of Unending Devotion to give away. So, how can you win?

1. Leave a comment below telling me your favorite setting (time period and/or geographical location) for a historical novel. That’ll get you ONE entry.

2. Check out Jody Hedlund’s Facebook page and “like” her. Come back here and leave a comment that you’ve done that. (Or if you already “like” her, tell me that, too.) That’s another entry.

3. Share this giveaway! Post it to Facebook, tweet about it (tag me @lmbartelt and Jody @jodyhedlund in your message) or e-mail it to a friend. Comment telling me what you did. You’ll get one entry for however you share about the giveaway.

Overall, that’s THREE chances to win.

I’ll pick a winner via Random.org and post the name on Monday, December 3. Good luck to all!