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If an author is a feminist, does it mean that their writing is automatically regarded as feminist literature? Does nothing but the feminist message radiate from their being? Are they capable of bringing anything less than that into the world? Feminist writers write feminist writings. But it is not always the cut and dry “How To Be A Feminist Handbook 101�� type of book. No, sometimes it can touch on problems like sex trafficking and involve a female character’s near constant abuse, as seen in the story of Lakshmi in Patricia McCormick’s Sold.

Now who dares read about the sexual, physical, and psychological abuse of so many female characters and has the gall to call it a feminist work? Well��. The reason why this novel was written must be taken into consideration before the subject matter. This novel was written to call attention to the injustices towards going on in other parts of the world. Because, while fictional, Lakshmi’s story is one that many girls can very closely relate to. Lakshmi’s life is one pieced together by bits of reality. The novel takes place mostly in a brothel located in India after Lakshmi had been sold by a family member in Nepal, a practice not too uncommon in that part of the world. Lakshmi speaks for all the girls who have been sold. The author’s note ends by saying that “it is in their-�� the Nepalese girls and women brought into the life of sex trafficking- “honor that this book was written�� (265).

The novel was written in a way that makes it seem genuine, with Lakshmi as the narrator. It is the carefully crafted voice of this character that gives the writing an alarmingly real feeling. The short chapters, simple wording, and constant misnomers she would use such as calling a light bulb a “tiny glass sun�� (3), or saying “metal wagon�� (63) rather than ‘car��, or “palm frond machine�� (95) instead of ‘fan,�� they all show her to be this naive little girl in awe of the world around her and it makes the reader feel sympathy for her, even before the sex abuse starts.

The writing and use of language in this novel seems to have been very carefully chosen. It was written very well for what it was. There was a line, a line of graphicness, that could have been crossed but it hadn’t. And that made it eerily beautiful and hard not to put down. McCormick wanted her reader to get through this novel with a certain level of disgust that never bubbled up far enough to put the book down but just enough to want to do something. Something to stop these things from ever happening to another girl ever again.

This piece of literature is a genuinely heartbreaking read. Furthermore, it is most definitely a feminist piece of literature as it was written for the purpose of finding justice for these women and girls.