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"Addison has written a novel that is beautiful in its story and also important in its message. A Walk Across the Sun deserves a wide audience." --John Grisham
Book Description
An unforgettable journey into the underworld of modern-day slavery, A Walk Across the Sun begins on December 26, 2004, as seventeen-year-old Ahalya Ghai and her younger sister, Sita, are walking on the beach outside their home in Chennai, India. Suddenly, the unimaginable happens: a devastating tsunami hits the shore, tearing their family apart instantly and leaving them orphaned and alone. As they attempt to travel toward safety inland, they are kidnapped and delivered to a Mumbai brothel, to begin new lives as captive prostitutes. In Washington, DC, a young lawyer, Thomas Clarke, is forced to take a sabbatical from his prestigious law firm. He chooses to serve his time with a non-profit group working in the red-light areas of Mumbai, where his wife, Priya, has returned to live with her family following the tragic loss of their child. Little does he know that his reluctant penance will soon turn into an international quest for the woman he has lost and a child he has never met. Though separated by half a world, the destinies of Thomas and the Ghai sisters become intertwined as Sita is trafficked to Paris and then New York. Before long, Thomas is navigating the brutal system of international human trafficking in an effort to reunite the sisters and save Sita’s life. Unflinchingly gritty yet ultimately hopeful, A Walk Across the Sun is an eye-opening tale of family and survival.
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Most helpful customer reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Scorcher of a Read!!,
By
This review is from: A Walk Across The Sun: A Novel (Paperback)
Story Description:Corban Addison leads readers on a chilling, eye-opening journey into Mumbai's seedy underworld--and the nightmare of two orphaned girls swept into the international sex trade. When a tsunami rages through their coastal town in India, 17-year-old Ahalya Ghai and her 15-year-old sister Sita are left orphaned and homeless. With almost everyone they know suddenly erased from the face of the earth, the girls set out for the convent where they attend school. They are abducted almost immediately and sold to a Mumbai brothel owner, beginning a hellish descent into the bowels of the sex trade. Halfway across the world, Washington, D.C., attorney Thomas Clarke faces his own personal and professional crisis-and makes the fateful decision to pursue a pro bono sabbatical working in India for an NGO that prosecutes the subcontinent's human traffickers. There, his conscience awakens as he sees firsthand the horrors of the trade in human flesh, and the corrupt judicial system that fosters it. Learning of the fate of Ahalya and Sita, Clarke makes it his personal mission to rescue them, setting the stage for a riveting showdown with an international network of ruthless criminals. My Review: This was a difficult book to read for me because it dealt with the horrible but very real world of exploitation in its worst form; the rape of young girls and women. This despicable act isn't just relegated to the farest reaches of our planet but happens every single day in our own backyards. A Walk Across the Sun is the story of two sisters who lose their family to a tsunami and then are kidnapped in broad daylight and sold into the sex slave industry. The eldest of the two sisters, Ahalya who is seventeen, suffers unspeakable acts to her physical, emotional, and spiritual self. Her younger sister, Sita, age fifteen doesn't fare much better when she is sold many times in the course of two and a half months to perform physical labour that is gruelling to say the least. Thomas Clarke, one of the main characters, is powerless in his search for Sita. Having been a lawyer with a large firm in the United States, he goes to Bombay, India for a year at CASE which is dedicated to the prosecution of these scumbags that buy these girls. Corban Addison has written a novel that has something for everyone. It is part thriller, part suspense, part mystery and filled with a poetic beauty fit for the most discerning. It is a novel of sex, rape, love, hate, hope, wisdom, forgiveness, and redemption. Between India, Paris, and the United States you are about to be taken on a journey with two of the most lovable girls you'll ever have the pleasure to meet in fiction and ones you'll never forget even after the last page has been turned. I can promise you that once you've begun this novel, you won't be able to put it down! I was enraged at the blaring disregard for women and I had many tear-stained pages throughout my reading of this novel. I was thankful for Mr. Addison's notes at the end of the novel on how to help stop human trafficking and is a must read! This novel has moved me into action and I highly recommend everyone read it. This would be a great book selection for book clubs. It needs to be discussed and kept on the front burner and in the forefront of everyone's mind. We all need to pitch in and help.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A riveting read that provides insight into a human tragedy,
By
This review is from: A Walk Across The Sun: A Novel (Paperback)
The sexual exploitation of children is one of the many tragedies of globalization. 'A Walk Across the Sun,' explores the movement of children from developing world countries like India to United States where they can become slaves to the perverse desires of the despicable pedophile. Sita and Ahalya have barely survived the deadly tsunami on December 26, of 2004 that's hit their village on the western coast of India. Numbed by the death of their mother and father and grandmother, they leave their destroyed house of a nun from the school they attend. Displaced and wretched, they become easy fodder for kidnappers looking to sell them as slaves. At the same time, Thomas Clarke is an attorney living in Washington D.C. who has recently lost a child to crib death. Stopping at a park for a walk and contemplation, he witnesses the kidnapping of a little girl from her mother. Coinciding with the recent death of his daughter, he experiences an emotional bond with the mother of the abducted little girl. When he is blamed for a botched law suit at his firm, Thomas uses the firm's offer of a leave to join a non-profit group in India dedicated to stopping the use of underage prostitutes in the Mumbai. This gives him the opportunity to do something he believes in and provides an opportunity to mend his marriage to an India woman who has returned to her home of the same city. The book follows the terrible travails of Sita and Ahalya and the desperate attempts of Thomas Clarke to save them and his marriage at the same time. It's a riveting read that provides insight into a human tragedy.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (65 customer reviews) 58 of 59 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Moving, Redemptive and An Awesome Ride,
By Nathan Hagerty - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Walk Across the Sun (Hardcover)
It's the sign of an incredible book that when it finishes, you have that butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling of closure, redemption and beauty. And that's what happens when you read this book. I read this as an ARC provided by the publishing company, but just bought it on Amazon so I could give it away to friends.Some readers might say that this is a "hard book to read", and that's true--at first. Coming face-to-face with the gritty realities of the horrendous trade in young girls is difficult. But Addison deftly weaves a tale of beauty and redemption throughout. It reads like a thriller, but has the soul of poetic lyricism. This might be a small spoiler, but I believe knowing this fact, actually, greatly improves the read -- it ends with goodness. It's not a "pat" ending, and all of the twists and turns of the story contribute to an overall effect of depth and reality. So the "happy" ending -- rather than being cliche or saccharine -- comes off as a picture of redemption. Yes, I know I've used that word a few times, but there's no better descriptor for how this book feels. Redemptive. Thriller fans will be delighted. Those who want a story with poetic beauty will be moved. The (on-the-ground) research makes you feel like you are walking the streets of Mumbai or Paris -- and the characterization is strong. I can't more highly recommend this book! 15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Get It Now!,
By Loving Life - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Walk Across the Sun (Hardcover)
What to say about Corban Addison's first novel, A Walk Across the Sun?I am not much of a reader of "thrillers," mainly because I find so many of the characters to be one dimensional and the plots way too far-fetched. But Corban Addison combines the mind of a top notch investigator with the soul of a poet. This is one well-written beautifully nuanced book. He uses the power of a fictional world to paint a compelling picture of a monstrous problem that is all but hidden from the view of most Americans. We would frankly rather not think about the exploitation of young girls and would love to be able to relegate it to some remote corner of the third world. But Addison starts right here in our own country with the abduction of a young girl in broad daylight, an abduction that his main character, Thomas Clarke, is powerless to stop. From there Clarke is drawn into a world of intrigue and danger, into the plight of two sisters kidnapped after losing both parents to a violent tsunami. Compelled to help, Clarke is drawn into the sexual cesspools of Bombay and Paris, and finally, full circle to our own back yard as he strives to rescue the younger sister from the brutal soulless world of sex slavers, dope pushers and pimps. He leaves no stone unturned and by the end of the book I found myself wrung out, the pages of the book tearstained and a rage rising within me that I hope never goes out. Addison never preaches. Nor does he sensationalize with too much detail of the sexual abuses endured by his characters, although he certainly could have. He just tells one hell of a good story that left this reader wanting to know more about how to help. It's quite simply a wonderful first novel. Buy, it, read it, pass it on to your friends, talk about it in book clubs. More importantly, read through his afterword for more information on human trafficking. Find a group committed to changing the world and join them. (so, okay Addison doesn't preach--but that doesn't stop this reviewer!) 24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A fast-paced thriller with a message,
By Gemjennc - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Walk Across the Sun (Hardcover)
When I think of this book, all the reviewer's cliches apply: fast-paced, suspenseful, page-turning, heart-thumping, stayed-up-late-reading, etc. I'm not typically a fan of thrillers--too often they sacrifice character study for the sake of moving the plot along. But I admire the effort Addison took to give readers a realistic tableaux whether we were reading about the doomed family in Chennai, the hidden neighborhood of Indian restaurants in Paris, or the truck stops in Harrisburg, PA. We care...moreWhen I think of this book, all the reviewer's cliches apply: fast-paced, suspenseful, page-turning, heart-thumping, stayed-up-late-reading, etc. I'm not typically a fan of thrillers--too often they sacrifice character study for the sake of moving the plot along. But I admire the effort Addison took to give readers a realistic tableaux whether we were reading about the doomed family in Chennai, the hidden neighborhood of Indian restaurants in Paris, or the truck stops in Harrisburg, PA. We care about the two orphan girls, Ahalya and Sita Ghai, right from the start because of the details he gives us about their lives before disaster strikes (in fact, I wouldn't have minded a little more of that). Addison reveals to the reader the grim realities of an underworld that we associate with movies but that is actually happening--and not just in places like India and the Philippines. Human trafficking--particularly of young girls--is modern slavery, and Addison does here what artists do best: he gives a human face to the victims that are otherwise invisible in our society.
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