Sold

The story of 13-year-old Lakshmi in Sold centers the young girl’s premature loss of innocence at the hands of adults who monstrously exploit her for their own gain. When her story begins, it’s already clear that Lakshmi has been forced to grow up before she’s ready to do so. Lakshmi’s life is idyllic in some ways, but she’s also extremely focused on more adult concerns, like the family’s financial security and its failing thatched roof…

In Sold, the interplay of gender and freedom underscores the oppressive structures that dictate the lives of women and girls in both rural and urban settings. From the beginning, Lakshmi’s mother, Ama, supports the deeply ingrained societal belief that women’s suffering is, to an extent, predetermined. Her assertion that “simply to endure is to triumph” reflects her resignation in the face of systemic oppression. This sentiment is not merely a personal philosophy…

Sold emphasizes the importance of connection and communication. This significance is established early on, as the first three poems in the novel focus on Lakshmi’s close relationships with her mother, her best friend Gita, and her small goat, Tali. The second poem, “Before Gita Left,” presents a nostalgic vignette of how Lakshmi misses her best friend, describing how the pair used to “[dream] of names for our / sons and daughters.”…

Sold explores the juxtaposition of wealth and poverty through the story of Lakshmi, a 13-year-old Nepali girl who is unknowingly trafficked into sex slavery to pay her stepfather’s gambling debts. The novel opens in Lakshmi’s village on the Himalayan mountainside, a place where the struggle for survival is constant. Monsoons wash away their rice paddies, droughts dry up the water supply, and their thatched roofs offers little protection from the elements. Lakshmi’s dream…