In days of so many cases of violence of various types against women, any movement in favor of an alert in this regard becomes useful and socially productive.
In November 2016, the publisher Dark-Side Books, which currently publishes the books of criminologist Ilana Casoy on true crimes, opened its doors to new talents and chose two Brazilian writers to publish. In the publisher’s catalog, there had not yet been any published national fiction author. It was a moment of valuing national literature, and one of the published names was that of the gaucho writer Rô Mierling, launching the book Diário de uma Escrava, which obtained more than one and a half million readings on the digital reading platform Wattpad.
This book, which in just a few weeks was already on the best-seller rankings of Amazon and Submarino, finding prominence on the shelves of physical bookstores throughout Brazil, and with many reviews on the literary social network Skoob, addresses a strong and shocking theme: the kidnapping and sexual slavery of a girl only 14 years old.
The book tells about years of slavery, torture, rapes, and deprivations of various types. In an extremely raw, descriptive, and violent manner, the book throws in the reader’s face what can happen when a teenager is kidnapped for sexual purposes.
Generating great controversies among readers and critics, the book is being analyzed for adaptation to cinema and shows that the endings of many stories may not be exactly as the optimists expect.
Scenes of rape, sodomy, and murder are described in detail, which terrifies many readers, but it serves as a true “wake-up call” to a society that often imagines that evil only knocks on the neighbor’s door.
The book continues its journey raising diverse opinions and serves as a warning for the care of our girls and women. With a very well-written story, based on various research, and a perfectly developed plot, the book skillfully achieves its goal: to reach all types of readers and leave the message that it is better to prevent than to remedy when the case is sexual and psychological violence.
The book is available in all bookstores in Brazil and is an excellent reading tip for our society.
By Fernanda Ribeiro, journalist and screenwriter