JENNIFER

Seattle, Washington, 1990. It
was a cold February day when eight-year-old Jennifer ‘Pinky’ Francis stepped
on the American soil for the first time, little knowing that her life was to
change forever. Her Indian passport contained no last name. Unbeknown to her
poor and illiterate parents, she had been illegally trafficked into the US
under the garb of adoption by the very people who had been entrusted with her
care. What ensues for Jennifer from then on is life in a foreign land where
she is thrust into the nightmarish world of foster care, sexual abuse, drugs
and crime. But, her heartbreaking story does not end there. Two decades after
her so-called adoption, Jennifer is deported to India with no money or
contacts. She must start at the very bottom again, building up her life one
tiny step at a time. Indeed, Jennifer is not only a representation of the
millions of illegal inter-country adoptees, but also a representation of
human suffering. Nandita Puri’s brilliant book is an utterly gut-wrenching and
unforgettable story of courage and survival.