"In The Third Daughter, Talia Carner ably illuminates a little-known
piece of history: the sex trafficking of young women from Russia to
South America in the late 19th century. Thoroughly researched and
vividly rendered, this is an important and unforgettable story of
exploitation and empowerment that will leave you both shaken and
inspired." --Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The
Lost Girls of Paris
The turn of the 20th century finds fourteen-year-old Batya in the
Russian countryside, fleeing with her family endless pogroms. Desperate,
her father leaps at the opportunity to marry Batya to a worldly, wealthy
stranger who can guarantee his daughter an easy life and passage to
America.
Feeling like a princess in a fairytale, Batya leaves her old life behind
as she is whisked away to a new world. But soon she discovers that she's
entered a waking nightmare. Her new "husband" does indeed bring her to
America: Buenos Aires, a vibrant, growing city in which prostitution is
not only legal but deeply embedded in the culture. And now Batya is one
of thousands of women tricked and sold into a brothel.
As the years pass, Batya forms deep bonds with her "sisters" in the
house as well as some men who are both kind and cruel. Through it all,
she holds onto one dream: to bring her family to America, where they
will be safe from the anti-Semitism that plagues Russia. Just as Batya
is becoming a known tango dancer, she gets an unexpected but dangerous
opportunity--to help bring down the criminal network that has enslaved
so many young women and has been instrumental in developing Buenos Aires
into a major metropolis.
A powerful story of finding courage in the face of danger, and hope in
the face of despair, The Third Daughter brings to life a dark period
of Jewish history and gives a voice to victims whose truth deserves to
finally be told.
