Weight of Sand: My 450 Days Held Hostage in the Sahara

A radiant, unforgettable memoir of one woman&;s 450 days spent in captivity, and her defiant refusal to have her humanity stripped away. When Edith meets Luca in a small Northern town, the two connect instantly. Under the Northern Lights, they develop a deep friendship over their shared passions: travel, living off the land, a bohemian life. In search of wanderlust, they embark on an epic road trip from Italy to Togo, where they will join their friend&;s sustainable farming project. Upon arriving on the African continent, they change their itinerary and drive through Africa&;s Sahel region, a haven for militant groups, where they are surrounded and captured. Little was known about Edith&;s and Luca&;s fate until they reappeared in Mali more than one year later, having mysteriously escaped their captors. Now, Edith shares her harrowing story with the world for the first time&;complete with the poems that became a lifeline for her in captivity, which she wrote in secret with a pen borrowed from another hostage. Against the stunning but cruel backdrop of the desert, Edith recounts her months as a hostage: the oppressive heat, violent sandstorms, constant relocations, hunger strikes, and her eventual heart-pounding escape. Separated from Luca early on, she finds solidarity and comfort with a group of other female hostages, who lend her a pen to write poetry, a creative outlet that helps save her life. Edith is steadfast in her will to remain sane: she reveals her dedication to her art, and her striking ability to unsettle her captors and identify their vulnerabilities.A compelling descent into a strange, brutal universe, The Weight of Sand is ultimately a life-affirming book and a poetic celebration of one woman&;s resilience.