The stories of the girls I was asked to read that day haunted me. Many sleepless nights followed, and I found myself unable and unwilling to forget. Harvesting exploded onto the page some years later, when, finally, I could no longer ignore the impetus to give voice to these girls’ experiences. Once I allowed the stories space to occupy my mind, Nico and Sammy evolved as characters whose consciousness I could fully inhabit. I set out to embody the humanity of two very different girls as they try to navigate their way through this treacherous world.

At the time of the campaign there were an estimated 1.2 million children trafficked globally every year, but because of the clandestine nature of the crime, the migrant crisis and the increasing numbers of unaccompanied minors going missing (according to Europol 10,000 child migrants disappeared in 2015), it is now impossible to know exactly how many young girls are exploited in this way.

This book is my attempt to pay homage to these invisible girls, and to raise awareness of this hidden, flourishing trade. For more information on trafficking in Ireland, see www.blueblindfold.gov.ie

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to Liliana Rotaru of CCF Moldova for her generous observations on Nico’s journey, and to Sarah Benson, CEO of Ruhama, for her careful notes on Sammy’s trajectory.

Thank you also to Emma McKinley from the Children’s Rights Alliance, Catriona Graham and Nusha Yonkova from the Immigrant Council of Ireland. To Orla Diffily for helping to make all this possible.

To my early readers, in particular Susanna Jones, Michelle Moran, Emer Conlon, Siona Meghen and Hugh O’Conor, you gave me faith to carry on when I needed it.

To Anthony Glavin, Catherine Dunne, Mia Gallagher, Seamus Hosey, Liz Nugent, Rachel Pierce, Beth O’Halloran and Anne O’Neill, for your support and encouragement.

To my tutors at Trinity College, Deirdre Madden, Carlo Gébler, Eoin McNamee and Mary Morrissy, for your guidance and expertise.

To Tom Farrelly, Katherine Phelan, and my fellow writers in the Brooks Writing Group, particularly Joanne Hayden, Elizabeth McSkeane, David Butler and June Caldwell, for your incisive critiquing along the way.

To Mum, Dad, Steve, Ash, Dermot, Jimmy, Ange, Noel, Clara and all my friends and family near and far, for your love and support.

Special thanks to my fearless agent Sophie Scard, my brilliant editors Dan Bolger and Shauna Daly, and to Mariel Deegan, Hannah Shorten and all at New Island for your exceptional skills, hard work and belief in the book.