Among the Betrayed

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of physical abuse, emotional abuse, child abuse, and death. 

Nina Idi, born Elodie Luria, is the 13-year-old protagonist of Among the Betrayed, and the novel focuses on her journey toward maturity and moral agency. She is described as a girl with “medium height and medium weight, with medium brown hair” (13). Nina is a third-born child forced to adopt a fake identity in a society where such children are criminalized and outlawed. Her life is shaped by secrecy and fear, and she has lived most of her life enclosed and isolated at home to keep her existence secret from the tyrannical Government. 

Nina grows up under the protection of her grandmother three aunts who raise her with love and care, describing herself as being treated like a “princess.” Although not wealthy, her family “scrimped and saved” to buy her an ID card from the black market and send her to the Harlow School for Girls, a school attended by first and second-born children. Their values and kindness continue to guide Nina’s decisions throughout the novel, helping her preserve her humanity in difficult situations. 

At the beginning of the novel, Nina is imprisoned and tortured by

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