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Product Description
From Amazon
Using Sarah's journal entries and the recollections of some of her co-workers in the sex trade, as well as family memories, de Vries pieces together what she can of her sister's life on the streets and finds moments of humour and humanity: "My toes get so cold they actually make me cry when they start warming up again," Sarah writes in her journal. "My hands aren't much better. The tips of my fingers, yikes: ouchie, ouchie, ouchie." Why did Sarah let herself get lost on the cold streets of the city rather than retreating to the bosom of her family? How could the police be aware of over five dozen missing women and still not admit there might be a serial predator at work? These are questions that, ultimately, will never really be answered to anyone's satisfaction. In Missing Sarah, Maggie de Vries has written a warm, sometimes angry but most often evenhanded tribute to her sister that does much to commemorate the lives of all the women whose remains may lie somewhere on the now-infamous Port Coquitlam pig farm. De Vries herself comes to a deeper understanding of the world, and rather than shrink back she faces the darkness with strength and clarity. The rest of us should feel lucky Missing Sarah is as close as we'll come to experiencing the horror that she and the rest of the families are enduring still. --Shawn Conner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
On April 14, 1998, Sarah de Vries disappeared from her usual spot on the corner of Princess and Hastings in Vancouver. She became one of the many women who had vanished from the Downtown Eastside—women, most of them sex workers and drug addicts—whose DNA would later be found on the Pickton farm. Reflecting on her adopted sister’s story, through Sarah’s own poetry and journals and the recollections of those close to her at home and downtown, Maggie uncovers the portrait of a bright, charismatic woman who found herself trapped in a downward spiral of self-loathing, prostitution, drugs, and violence. In this achingly honest book, the reader is drawn into revelations and understanding just as Maggie was. Tragic though it was in many ways, Sarah’s life had meaning.
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Most helpful customer reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
When Love Is Not Enough,
By Sigrid Macdonald (Ottawa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Missing Sarah (Paperback)
In Missing Sarah, Maggie de Vries writes a provocative and heartbreaking story about her sister, Sarah, who was one of 69 women who went missing from the Eastside of Vancouver in the 1990s. Shockingly, Sarah's DNA was discovered on Robert Pickton's farm, yet that evidence was not sufficient for the police to charge him with her murder.A professional writer, Maggie goes back in time to give us a detailed portrait of Sarah's earlier years. A child of mixed racial descent, Sarah was adopted into a Caucasian family; she was taunted at school and mocked for her ethnicity. Although the family adored Sarah and vice versa, this devotion was not enough to surpass the pain from the racist insults that Sarah received. She became a troubled teenager, feeling that she did not belong anywhere. Sarah began to run away, and eventually felt more comfortable in group homes and in her own low-rent apartment than she did with her family. Maggie traces Sarah's journey into drugs and prostitution. She also analyzes different factors that have decreased the safety of sex trade work. According to Maggie, between 1960 and 1974, only one prostitute was the victim of a violent death in British Columbia. From 1975 to 1980, the number increased to a total of three women. It started rising in the 90s, resulting in 24 dead sex trade workers in B.C. before the maniacal actions of Robert Pickton. This is an important book. Not only do we get to know Sarah de Vries as a person, rather than a faceless, drug addicted prostitute, but we also get a sense of how terribly wrong it is for our hypocritical society to push sex trade workers into the deepest and darkest corners of the city where they will inevitably be easy prey for perverts and malevolent men. Policymakers as well as the general public should take heed. Sex trade workers, who are often only teenagers, need our protection. Missing Sarah makes a strong argument for the decriminalization of drugs since many prostitutes cannot leave the job because they need to work to feed their habit. It also advocates the legalization of the sex trade. I support both of these positions. All acts between consenting adults should be legal, especially when doing so gives sex trade workers a safe physical location. That way they don't have to solicit on corners and get into cars with strangers who may beat, rob, rape or kill them.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Moving Account of One Sister's Life on the Streets,
By
This review is from: Missing Sarah (Paperback)
I gave this book 5 stars, not because it is a literary masterpiece, but because it stands out in its genre (that is, either a family memoir or true crime story). The author, a teacher of literature at the University of British Columbia, writes with confidence and clarity.I found the book unusually moving. It's too easy to say that hookers and drug addicts shouldn't be surprised when they meet danger on the streets. De Vries shows us that her sister, one of these supposed "throw away women", had feelings and interests. This book brought out feelings of fear, sorrow, and anger. It's rare that any one book can capture all those emotions in me. Well done, Maggie de Vries.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Missing Sarah review,
By A Customer
This review is from: Missing Sarah (Paperback)
I purchased this book because I knew Sarah briefly, and know Maggie, somewhat, via internet.I believe Maggie beautifully wrote what she remembers and I think this book might help others. Especially non native people, despite their good intentions, of adopting native kids. Hopefully too, it will help other women or girls who are considering a career of street prostitution. Its simply not safe to be out there today. I know. I have been there myself. In her book, Maggie was able to put a human face on women, who like Sarah, chose a very dangerous lifestyle. It would have been helpful if we heard more about Sarah's children. What is being done differently for them, as they are being raised by the same loving, but Caucasian grandmother? Are they being exposed to native culture, visiting Elders, attending Pow Wows and Traditional Ceremonies?
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