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Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker. Audio Software icon An illustration of a 3. Software Images icon An illustration of two photographs. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses. A walk across the sun : a novel Item Preview. We cannot guarantee that every book is in the library! The international bestseller, with 30, copies sold in Canada When a tsunami rages through their coastal home in India, sisters Ahalya and Sita are left orphaned and alone.
Searching for protection in a devastated landscape, they are thrust into a seamy world of violence and underground commerce. In Washington, D. Though Clarke and the sisters are separated by half a world, their destinies are intertwined. Clarke makes it his personal mission to rescue them, setting the stage for a riveting showdown with an international network of ruthless criminals.
Spanning three continents and two cultures, A Walk Across the Sun is a suspenseful, fast-paced and moving journey through the underworld of modern slavery and into the darkest-and most resilient- corners of the human heart. An unforgettable journey into the underworld of modern-day slavery, A Walk Across the Sun begins on December 26, , as seventeen-year-old Ahalya Ghai and her younger sister, Sita, are walking on the beach outside their home in Chennai, India.
Suddenly, the unimaginable happens: a devastating tsunami hits the shore, tearing their family apart instantly and leaving them orphaned and alone. As they attempt to travel toward safety inland, they are kidnapped and delivered to a Mumbai brothel, to begin new lives as captive prostitutes. In Washington, DC, a young lawyer, Thomas Clarke, is forced to take a sabbatical from his prestigious law firm.
He chooses to serve his time with a non-profit group working in the red-light areas of Mumbai, where his wife, Priya, has returned to live with her family following the tragic loss of their child. Little does he know that his reluctant penance will soon turn into an international quest for the woman he has lost and a child he has never met.
Though separated by half a world, the destinies of Thomas and the Ghai sisters become intertwined as Sita is trafficked to Paris and then New York. Before long, Thomas is navigating the brutal system of international human trafficking in an effort to reunite the sisters and save Sita's life. Unflinchingly gritty yet ultimately hopeful, A Walk Across the Sun is an eye-opening tale of family and survival. The international bestseller, with more than 35, copies sold in Canada When a tsunami rages through their coastal village in India, Ahalya Ghai and her sister, Sita, are left orphaned and alone.
Searching for protection amid the devastation, they are taken by criminals and thrust into a hidden world of illicit commerce, where the most valuable prize is the innocence of a child.
Half a world away, In Washington, D. Estranged from his wife, Priya, he makes the fateful decision to pursue a pro-bono sabbatical in Mumbai, India, with an organization that prosecutes the region's human traffickers. Little does he know that his reluctant penance will soon turn into a global quest to save the love he lost and a young woman he has never met.
Spanning three continents and two cultures, A Walk Across the Sun is a suspenseful, fast-paced and moving journey through the underworld of modern slavery and into the darkest--and most resilient--corners of the human heart.
A Walk Across The Sun deserves a wide audience. Ahalya Ghai and her younger sister Sita are as close as sisters can be. But their loving and secure childhood ends abruptly one day when a tsunami rips through their village on India's Coromandel coast.
Their home is swept away, and Ahalya and Sita are the sole survivors of their family. Destitute, their only hope is to find refuge at a convent in Chennai, many miles away. A driver agrees to take them. But the moment they get into that car their fate is sealed. The two sisters - confused, alone, totally reliant on each other - are sold. Worse, they are separated. On the other side of the world, Washington lawyer Thomas Clarke is struggling to cope after the death of his baby daughter and the collapse of his marriage to Priya.
He takes a sabbatical from his high-pressure job and accepts a position with the Bombay branch of an international anti-trafficking group. Thomas is now on a path that not only involves saving himself and his marriage, but the lives of two sisters who cannot bear to be apart. Spanning the globe, A Walk Across the Sun is an unforgettable tale of the transformative power of love, even in the face of unimaginable obstacles. A Walk Across The Sun is about cruelty and loss.
It is about family and survival. And ultimately it is about love, and the immeasurable strength of the human spirit. No one stirred in the house below. It was the day after Christmas, a Sunday, and all India was asleep. Ahalya snuggled into her blanket, inhaled the sweet, sandalwood scent of her sister's hair, and drifted off to visions of the peacock-blue salwar kameez her father had given her to wear to the conservatory in Mylapore that evening.
It was December and the Madras Music Season was in full swing. Their father had bought them tickets to a violin concerto at eight o'clock. She and Sita were both students of the violin. The household awoke in stages. At a quarter past seven, Jaya, the family's longtime housekeeper, swaddled herself in a sari, retrieved a small jar of limestone powder from the bureau at the foot of her bed, and went to the front porch. She swept the earth beyond the threshold with a stiff-bristled broom and placed dots of the white powder on the ground.
She connected the dots with elegant lines and traced the star shape of a jasmine flower. Satisfying herself, she placed her hands together, palms flat, and whispered a prayer to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of fortune, for an auspicious day. The kolam ritual complete, she went to the kitchen to prepare the morning meal. Ahalya woke again when the sunlight streamed through the curtains.
Sita, always an early riser, was nearly dressed, her sable hair shiny and damp from a shower. Ahalya watched her sister apply her makeup in front of a small mirror and smiled. Sita was a fine-boned girl blessed with the delicate features and wide, expressive eyes of their mother, Ambini. She was slight for her age, and the magic of puberty had yet to transform her body into the figure of a woman. As a result, she was self-conscious about her appearance, despite regular reassurances from Ahalya and Ambini that time would bring about the changes she so desired.
Partly to keep pace with Sita and partly to avoid being late for breakfast, Ahalya dressed hurriedly in a yellow pantsuit, or churidaar , and matching scarf. She slipped on bangles and anklets and completed the ensemble by fastening a necklace around her neck and placing a delicate jeweled bindi on her forehead. It was a rule in the Ghai household that the girls could speak Hindi or Tamil only if spoken to by an adult in that language. Like all Indians privileged to rise into the ranks of the upper middle class, their parents dreamed of sending them to university in England and firmly believed that a mastery of English was the likeliest ticket to Cambridge or Oxford.
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