Based on interviews with young women who were kidnapped by Boko Haram, this poignant novel by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani tells the timely story of one girl who was taken from her home in Nigeria and her harrowing fight for survival. Includes an afterword by award-winning journalist Viviana Mazza.
A new pair of shoes, a university degree, a husbandâthese are the things that a girl dreams of in a Nigerian village. And with a government scholarship right around the corner, everyone can see that these dreams arenât too far out of reach.
But the girlâs dreams turn to nightmares when her village is attacked by Boko Haram, a terrorist group, in the middle of the night. Kidnapped, she is taken with other girls and women into the forest where she is forced to follow her captorsâ radical beliefs and watch as her best friend slowly accepts everything sheâs been told.
Still, the girl defends her existence. As impossible as escape may seem, her lifeâher futureâis hers to fight for.