My Life Has a Price

"My Life Has a Price is a sad beautiful story. I asked everybody here to read it.~ Nawal El-Saadawi, author of Woman at Point Zero (Zed Books, 1975) and God Dies by Nile (Zed Books, 1974) etc.

"A testament to the best and worst of humanity. You can't help but read My Life Has a Price and pass it on" .~ Sefi Atta, author of Everything Good Will Come (Swallow, 2010).

"A chance at a better life should never be overlooked, but occasionally something foul lurks under opportunity...a read to be very much considered for international memoir collections". The Midwest Book Review, Library Bookwatch, Nov. 2012. One morning on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria, a lucky 13-year-old girl named Tina, from a modest family, is preparing to go to France to become part of Linda and Godwin Okpara's family. Linda is a homemaker and Godwin is a soccer player at the top French club Paris Saint-Germain, as well as for the Super Eagles, Nigeria's national squad. The couple have four children and Tina dreams of going with them to school and joining in their games, living the European dream. But, soon after her arrival, the reality becomes different. Written in collaboration with acclaimed French journalist, Cyril Guinet, Tina Okpara recounts how imprisonment, torture, and abuse - in a suburban house in the middle of gentrified Europe in the 21st century - could not break her. Tina's gripping story of survival and escape to rebuild her life is a moving testament to a remarkable woman, a true survivor.