Robinja

Slave by Mende Nazer with Damian Lewis, read by Adjoa Andoh, tells of her childhood in Sudan, a mostly idyllic life until, aged twelve, she was torn from her family in the middle of the night by Arab raiders who kidnapped many children to sell them into slavery. Mende was sent to a wealthy household in Khartoum where she was subject to cruelty, psychological abuse and regular beatings. This is a recent story which makes it all the more shocking. Mende was twelve in 1993 but managed to retain enough hope and courage to make her dramatic escape to a semblance of freedom in London seven years later.