Mende Nazer was born into the Karko tribe in Sudan, and after a peaceful and happy childhood in her mountain village, she was kidnapped by Arabs, raped, and forced to work as a maid in Khartoum--her first contact with such marks of civilization as silverware and television. She was also repeatedly beaten and insulted. Her memoir is a reminder that the world has a long way to go in eradicating such seemingly outdated abuses as slavery and exploitation of children.