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The weight of sand : my 450 days held hostage in the Sahara  Cover Image Book Book

The weight of sand : my 450 days held hostage in the Sahara / Edith Blais ; translated by Katia Grubisic.

Blais, Edith, 1984- (author.). Grubisic, Katia, (translator.). Blais, Edith, 1984- translation of: Sablier. English. (Added Author).

Summary:

"An evocative, earth-shattering memoir about one woman's kidnapping and 450 days of captivity at the hands of terrorists-and her stunning escape to freedom. In January 2019, news outlets reported that a young Canadian woman and her Italian companion were presumed kidnapped while traveling in Africa's Sahel region, a haven for Islamic terrorists. Little was known about the pair's fate until they reappeared in Mali more than one year later, having apparently escaped their captors. Now, in The Weight of Sand, Edith Blais describes her harrowing hostage experience for the first time-and reveals that writing poetry in secret helped save her life. Edith recounts the prolonged terror of her months as a hostage, enduring violent sandstorms, constant relocations, grueling hunger strikes, extreme isolation, and the unpredictability of her captors. She also shares the luminous poems she wrote in secret with a borrowed pen, which became a lifeline of creativity and one of the few possessions she smuggled out in her escape, strapped to her leg under her clothes. A compelling descent into a strange, brutal universe, The Weight of Sand is ultimately a life-affirming book-a celebration of resilience by a woman who refused to have her humanity stripped away from her."-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781771649094 (hardcover)
  • Physical Description: 276 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
  • Publisher: Vancouver : Greystone Books, 2021.

Content descriptions

General Note:
Includes poems written by Edith Blais.
Language Note:
Translated from the French.
Subject: Blais, Edith, 1984- > Captivity.
Blais, Edith, 1984- > Kidnapping.
Hostages > Canada > Biography.
Hostages > Sahara > Biography.
Kidnapping victims > Canada > Biography.
Kidnapping victims > Sahara > Biography.
Terrorism > Sahara.
Genre: Biographies.
Autobiographies.

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Innisfil Public Library System.
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Lakeshore Branch. (Show)

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Lakeshore Branch 364.154092 Blais 31681010249407 NONFIC Available -


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