The Blue Notebook

Meera Simhan's musical Indian-accented voice may at first seem incongruous when you begin to realize the subject of Levine's novel--the selling of a 9-year-old girl into prostitution by her father. Yet despite the unvarnished horrors that young Batuk experiences in Mumbai, Simhan's melodic voice reflects Levine's greatest ambition: to demonstrate human resilience even in the face of barbarities perpetrated against the most vulnerable souls. The beauty of Simhan's narration serves one other purpose. It contrasts chillingly with the few occasions when she suddenly deadens her delivery, suggesting the disassociation Batuk must summon to survive the atrocities she experiences. Simhan renders those moments almost unbearable. M.O. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

July 6, 2009
Levine, a doctor at the Mayo clinic, was inspired to write this heartbreaking and terrifying novel when he was interviewing homeless children in Mumbai as part of his medical research. In the "Street of Cages" where child prostitutes ply their trade, literally encaged by their neglectful and abusive overseers (who pocket all the profits), Levine was struck by the sight of a young girl sitting outside her cage writing in a notebook. Batuk is a 15 year old girl who was sold to Mamaki Briila by her father when she was 9. Forced to service up to ten men a day from her "nest," and subject to deplorable treatment by the men who pay for her services, she's even abused by the doctor who examines her; her friend Puneet, meanwhile, nearly dies after being sexually assaulted by two policemen and is castrated at the first signs of puberty. Batuk tells her story matter-of-factly, in a voice reminiscent of The Color Purple's. While painful to read, Batuk's story puts a face on the mistreatment and disregard for children worldwide, as well as a testament to the hopefulness and power of literacy. All U.S. proceeds from the book will be donated to helping exploited children.