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Zanoyan's New Book Highlights Sex Trafficking in the Former Soviet Union
http://asbarez.com/109933/zanoyan%E2%80%99s-new-book-highlights-sex-trafficking-in-the-former-soviet-union/
Wednesday, May 8th, 2013
A Place Far Away
Sex trafficking is a global problem. And yet, it is often baffling how
that dark world can coexist parallel to ours, with the vast majority
of us being unaware of its horrors. The collapse of the Soviet Union
and the ensuing chaos in almost all of its former republics created a
particularly fertile ground for the spread of, among other crimes, sex
trafficking from that region.
A new novel by Vahan Zanoyan, entitled A Place Far Away, exposes the
nature of that beast and touches upon a variety of social and cultural
issues rarely seen in today's literary and entertainment world.
`This is a powerful and well organized crime network that targets the
most vulnerable elements in society,' says Zanoyan. `Young and
underage girls from broken homes, orphans and children from extremely
poor families and remote villages are the primary targets of sex
traffickers.'
Zanoyan felt compelled to write the book after encountering an
underage Armenian victim of the sex trade in Dubai. `It was not easy
to extract her story from her,' he says, `but once I managed to do so,
I was obsessed with the phenomenon.' So he spent the next eighteen
months researching that world, interviewing over a dozen other girls,
visiting their home towns back in Armenia, talking to officials in a
few countries and meeting with organizations committed to fighting
human trafficking. He then decided to write a novel based largely on
real events.
Author Vahan Zanoyan speaks in Armenia
Why fiction? `I wanted to reach the widest possible audience in order
to create the widest possible public awareness of the problem,' says
Zanoyan. `I believe silence encourages this phenomenon, while exposure
can act as a deterrent.' By choosing fiction, he could combine several
different stories into one plot, providing the widest possible
illustration of the various aspects of sex trafficking.
A Place Far Away tells the story of Lara Galian, a hauntingly
beautiful sixteen-year-old from a poor village in Armenia. When a
ruthless oligarch approaches Lara's father with an offer to manage her
through a wonderful and successful modeling career, her father refuses
and is subsequently murdered. A month later, Lara's mother accepts the
offer and Lara is whisked away, only to be violently raped and sent to
Moscow. Forced into prostitution, Lara refuses to accept her fate and
goes through the motions as she's moved from Moscow to Dubai and
eventually sold for one year to a local VIP. She sets forth to escape
while a Swiss investigative reporter works to help Lara and her family
>From back in Armenia. As plots begin to unfold and crumble all around
her, Lara's chances of escape begin to look increasingly slim, but
with unlikely allies, the extraordinary courage and moral fiber of her
family, and a spirit that never dies, Lara's fate is far from sealed.
Zanoyan will donate all the net proceeds to a few organizations
engaged in either fighting sex trafficking, or in rehabilitating
rescued victims, who often suffer from prolonged psychological and
physical damage.
At least two well known professional reviews give the book a thumbs up:
`Zanoyan illuminates the seedy world of sex trafficking in the newly
independent states of the former USSR. ... The rarely discussed subject
matter from a seldom-seen part of the world makes for a compelling
storyline ... With his deft handling of personalities and the atmosphere
of village life, Zanoyan gives depth to the narrative while
individualizing his characters as the community exerts incredible
effort to protect one of its own.' - Kirkus Reviews
`A Place Far Away is a compelling novel by a skilled writer who knows
how to build narrative tension. ... Zanoyan does not sugarcoat the
horrific reality of human trafficking; from the outset, readers will
be drawn right into Lara's nightmare. ... [in this] thought provoking
novel, Zanoyan takes the reader from poverty-stricken villages in
Armenia to Moscow and Dubai in a straightforward depiction of the
horrors of human trafficking. ... [his] description of the different
lands and cultures is thorough, resulting in a credible and realistic
setting.' Jeannine Chartier Hanscom, Clarion Review.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
http://asbarez.com/109933/zanoyan%E2%80%99s-new-book-highlights-sex-trafficking-in-the-former-soviet-union/
Wednesday, May 8th, 2013
A Place Far Away
Sex trafficking is a global problem. And yet, it is often baffling how
that dark world can coexist parallel to ours, with the vast majority
of us being unaware of its horrors. The collapse of the Soviet Union
and the ensuing chaos in almost all of its former republics created a
particularly fertile ground for the spread of, among other crimes, sex
trafficking from that region.
A new novel by Vahan Zanoyan, entitled A Place Far Away, exposes the
nature of that beast and touches upon a variety of social and cultural
issues rarely seen in today's literary and entertainment world.
`This is a powerful and well organized crime network that targets the
most vulnerable elements in society,' says Zanoyan. `Young and
underage girls from broken homes, orphans and children from extremely
poor families and remote villages are the primary targets of sex
traffickers.'
Zanoyan felt compelled to write the book after encountering an
underage Armenian victim of the sex trade in Dubai. `It was not easy
to extract her story from her,' he says, `but once I managed to do so,
I was obsessed with the phenomenon.' So he spent the next eighteen
months researching that world, interviewing over a dozen other girls,
visiting their home towns back in Armenia, talking to officials in a
few countries and meeting with organizations committed to fighting
human trafficking. He then decided to write a novel based largely on
real events.
Author Vahan Zanoyan speaks in Armenia
Why fiction? `I wanted to reach the widest possible audience in order
to create the widest possible public awareness of the problem,' says
Zanoyan. `I believe silence encourages this phenomenon, while exposure
can act as a deterrent.' By choosing fiction, he could combine several
different stories into one plot, providing the widest possible
illustration of the various aspects of sex trafficking.
A Place Far Away tells the story of Lara Galian, a hauntingly
beautiful sixteen-year-old from a poor village in Armenia. When a
ruthless oligarch approaches Lara's father with an offer to manage her
through a wonderful and successful modeling career, her father refuses
and is subsequently murdered. A month later, Lara's mother accepts the
offer and Lara is whisked away, only to be violently raped and sent to
Moscow. Forced into prostitution, Lara refuses to accept her fate and
goes through the motions as she's moved from Moscow to Dubai and
eventually sold for one year to a local VIP. She sets forth to escape
while a Swiss investigative reporter works to help Lara and her family
>From back in Armenia. As plots begin to unfold and crumble all around
her, Lara's chances of escape begin to look increasingly slim, but
with unlikely allies, the extraordinary courage and moral fiber of her
family, and a spirit that never dies, Lara's fate is far from sealed.
Zanoyan will donate all the net proceeds to a few organizations
engaged in either fighting sex trafficking, or in rehabilitating
rescued victims, who often suffer from prolonged psychological and
physical damage.
At least two well known professional reviews give the book a thumbs up:
`Zanoyan illuminates the seedy world of sex trafficking in the newly
independent states of the former USSR. ... The rarely discussed subject
matter from a seldom-seen part of the world makes for a compelling
storyline ... With his deft handling of personalities and the atmosphere
of village life, Zanoyan gives depth to the narrative while
individualizing his characters as the community exerts incredible
effort to protect one of its own.' - Kirkus Reviews
`A Place Far Away is a compelling novel by a skilled writer who knows
how to build narrative tension. ... Zanoyan does not sugarcoat the
horrific reality of human trafficking; from the outset, readers will
be drawn right into Lara's nightmare. ... [in this] thought provoking
novel, Zanoyan takes the reader from poverty-stricken villages in
Armenia to Moscow and Dubai in a straightforward depiction of the
horrors of human trafficking. ... [his] description of the different
lands and cultures is thorough, resulting in a credible and realistic
setting.' Jeannine Chartier Hanscom, Clarion Review.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress