On The Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back - Stacey Dooley

What a fantastic and educational book! Aside from being genuinely fab, Stacey is also a really down-to-earth writer who adopts the same conversational and chatty style that she does on the screen. The book begins by detailing how, in 2007, Stacey was working in a retail establishment and was a consumer of fast-fashion, giving little thought to the processes behind the making of her clothes and the labour involved. She signed up to take part in a BBC series Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts, and to her surprise was selected to be a participant and travel to India. Once there, she both lived and worked alongside Indian factory workers, making clothes which would ultimately end up on the UK high street.

This experience really opened her eyes to the exploitation which occurs all around the world, and was what ignited her passion to create investigative documentaries in the years to follow. Throughout the chapters she recalls her work on various projects, for example her experiences with domestic violence victims in Honduras and sex trafficking in Cambodia, amongst many others. And all of these topics are centred around the strong and enduring women who have lived through these experiences, and whom she has befriended along the way. 

I think what was particularly attractive about this book is its raw and unapologetic style - Stacey is not a writer, and does not claim to be anything but herself, and she remains natural and uncut throughout. It is refreshing to read a book written by someone who is unabashedly opinionated, and you can tell that the editors have not removed any of the charm and personality that she has put into the writing. The topics involved are very harrowing, particularly the chapter about the sexual exploitation of children - sometimes by their own parents - which I did find pretty tough reading, admittedly. But it is important that people are made aware that these things do go on, far too often, and sometimes right under our noses (a particular passage mentioned a case which had gone on right here in the East Midlands!).

What's really remarkable is that, despite all the horrific and life-changing things she's seen, Stacey remains so positive and hopeful, and highlights how amazing it is that these experiences have been endured by these strong women. I really laughed a lot at her brash and colloquial style whilst documenting her travels, all the whilst hearing it spoken in her distinct Luton accent! Definitely an important book, and one which I highly recommend - you will come out the other side feeling more knowledgeable, aware, and utterly humbled.