"Too many storm clouds had gathered over [Abena's] short life: her village had been burned to the ground, her parents had been stabbed to death trying to defend themselves, she had been raped, and now she had to endure this brutal separation from ... a creature as gentle and desperate as herself."
p. 4

"It seemed to [Abena] that a woman's fate was even more painful than a man's. In order to free themselves from their condition, didn't they have to submit to the will of those very men who kept them in bondage and to sleep with them?"
p. 6

"I saw men go home covered in blood, their chests and backs striped in scarlet. I even saw one of them die under my very eyes, vomiting a violet froth of blood ...everyone rejoiced because at least one of us had been delivered and was on his way home."
p...