The story is based on real life diary of a Russian girl who had been imprisoned to work as a slave prostitute in Italy.
Mara told me of her experiences: at age eighteen she had been coerced to work as a slave prostitute. I realised that I was hearing a powerful human tragedy.
I have fictionalised this girl's experiences into a novel, reproducing the content of her diary which she had allowed me to read. It traces her life from the age of eleven in post-communist Russia. She craved for love which was missing in her dysfunctional home. As a reaction to sordid conditions, at thirteen she drifted into a close lesbian relationship with Anya, a classmate. At sixteen, Mara fell in love with an ice-hockey hero. Two years later, in an attempt to prove that men are unworthy of love and desperate to win her back, Anya, who by then was a committed lesbian, seduced Mara’s boyfriend.
Heartbroken and disappointed with everything in her life, Mara applied for a waitressing job in Italy, only to be forced by Mafiosi to work in their brothels.
The novel reflects the life in these appalling establishments, the relationships between the girls and their slavers, their customers, and between themselves.
Mara is eventually freed but given the horrid experiences, how will she be able to cope?