They left the next morning after breakfast. Gagik drove them home and returned to Ashtarak. He couldn’t help thinking that what had happened in the upper villages was no less of a revolution than anything he had been involved in in the early days leading to Armenia’s Independence. As he pulled into his driveway, the sound of a roaring Crazy Gago laugh filled his entire neighborhood.
Acknowledgements
This book is dedicated to the thousands of young women who have fallen victim to international human trafficking and suffer silently trapped in an unbearable reality from which they cannot escape. First and foremost, it is their plight, and especially the plight of underage Armenian orphaned girls subjected to the same fate, that inspired me to undertake the writing of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events and places have no connection whatsoever with actual ones. However, I have tried to tell this story in a way that allows a sense of the true nature of that plight to seep through the fiction. I am indebted to many individuals and documentaries in creating that link. Edik Baghdassarian, of Hetq Investigative Journalists in Armenia, was an invaluable source, both through his excellent documentary series entitled Desert Nights and through personal interviews. Ric Esther Bienstock’s six-part documentary entitled Sex Slaves was another helpful source. My most important sources were, and by far the most valuable insights came from, the many women that I had the privilege of meeting and interviewing in Dubai, all victims of human trafficking and all there against their will, whose names I unfortunately cannot disclose.
I am indebted to many individuals who read and commented on the manuscript, including some early drafts: Armine Hovannisian, who read, edited and made countless excellent suggestions about the plot; Dr. Jane Hall, who read the entire manuscript twice and made invaluable editorial suggestions. Beth Bruno, who edited the manuscript; Dr. Vahram Shemmassian. Dr. Ziad Deeb, Hera Deeb, Silva Merjanian, Nora Salibian, as well as my wife Charlotte and two sons, Shahan and Varant, who patiently read the manuscript.
A Place Far Away Page 37