A review by davehershey
A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman by Lisa J. Shannon

3.0

This book is worth reading simply to get educated on the horrors happening in the Congo. For some reason it seems like the Congo, which has been called the worst place on earth to be a woman, does not get the publicity that Sudan or other places get. There are very visible movements working to fight AIDS and human trafficking but Congo's needs have not been as visible. Thus we should be grateful to Lisa Shannon for reporting on the Congo. The stories she tells are heart-wrenching.

The only flaw is that at times the book is not as tightly written as it could be. I wish Lisa had taken some of the stories the women told her and translated them into a narrative instead of merely reporting the conversations verbatim. I think of authors like David Batstone and Kevin Bales who have written on human trafficking and their skill in writing. Lisa's passion is clear and I feel like this is such a nitpicky point on a book about such a horrible issue. Yet the book itself could do for some editing (and after reading reviews, it seems this is a common critique).

That aside, I highly recommend this book and websites of organizations (Raise Hope for Congo) to learn what is going on and what we can do.