Freeing Slaves: Book Review of The Slave Across the Street

This book review was written by Chad Estes, a member of the Boise Vineyard in Idaho.

An Important Story Regarding Human Trafficking

When Liam Neeson’s movie “Taken” came out in 2008 many people were shocked. The film portrayed how easily it was for unassuming girls to get pulled into the slave trade. As the setting was Paris, I had several friends question my sanity in sending my teenage daughter on a student ambassador program which included a week in France. The movie and my daughter’s trip both had a good ending, but for many girls the horrors of the slave trade are an awful reality.

In her book, The Slave Across the Street, Theresa Flores brings the human trafficking story home to the United States, to a wealthy suburb of Detroit, sharing what really happened in her own life. Not the victim we tend to imagine in these crimes–white, upper class, stable family–Theresa was taken advantage of, repeatedly, and was in a cycle of abuse that was so cruel she was lucky to have escaped with her life.

Flores now shares about these teen years as part of her own healing, uncovering what had lain secret for years, but needed to be brought into the light of truth not only for her but also for current victims and potential ones.

Although the subject matter of the book is by its nature adult material Flores descriptions of her life are not graphic in detail. I have read similar themed books that emphasize the horror of the lifestyle with only a chapter of redemption at the end. They make for a titillating read, but are hardly helpful in the fight against human trafficking. This book is bare of the glamorization of such tragedies and only provides enough story to understand the enslavement issue.

The book also includes several chapters regarding the facts about human trafficking, how to seek help for victims, indentify red flags on the slave trade, and provides important pointers for parents and professionals. Anything this book may lack in its presentation and prose is made up in its substance.