Synopses & Reviews
A haunting story of love and survival that introduces an unforgettable literary heroine.
Ladydi Garcia Martínez is fierce, funny and smart. She was born into a world where being a girl is a dangerous thing. In the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, women must fend for themselves, as their men have left to seek opportunities elsewhere. Here in the shadow of the drug war, bodies turn up on the outskirts of the village to be taken back to the earth by scorpions and snakes. School is held sporadically, when a volunteer can be coerced away from the big city for a semester. In Guerrero the drug lords are kings, and mothers disguise their daughters as sons, or when that fails they “make them ugly” – cropping their hair, blackening their teeth — anything to protect them from the rapacious grasp of the cartels. And when the black SUVs roll through town, Ladydi and her friends burrow into holes in their backyards like animals, tucked safely out of sight.
While her mother waits in vain for her husband’s return, Ladydi and her friends dream of a future that holds more promise than mere survival, finding humor, solidarity and fun in the face of so much tragedy. When Ladydi is offered work as a nanny for a wealthy family in Acapulco, she seizes the chance, and finds her first taste of love with a young caretaker there. But when a local murder tied to the cartel implicates a friend, Ladydi’s future takes a dark turn. Despite the odds against her, this spirited heroine’s resilience and resolve bring hope to otherwise heartbreaking conditions.
An illuminating and affecting portrait of women in rural Mexico, and a stunning exploration of the hidden consequences of an unjust war, Prayers for the Stolen is an unforgettable story of friendship, family, and determination.
Review
“Compelling....Just beautiful….Really, really beautiful.” Diane Rehm, NPR
Review
“Clement is more a poet than a documentarian, and the girls and women of the village she chronicles are complex individuals....Clement treats the brutal material honestly...and ultimately allows Ladydi to continue to hope.” Publishers Weekly
Review
"Moving....Through a beautifully rendered poetic rhythm all her own, Clement tells a story of the often forgotten women who carry on through the drug wars...Prayers for the Stolen tells a complicated and layered story....It feels painfully real, with a dry wit and subtly inquisitive subtext that should leave American readers wondering what can be done." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
A hauntingly beautiful story of love and survival in rural Mexico.
Ladydi Garcia Martinez was born into a world where being a girl is a dangerous thing. In their village in the remote tropical mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, she and her friends are dressed as boys and “made ugly” by their mothers, to protect them from the roving drug traffickers and criminal groups that plague the region. The women must fend for themselves, as almost all of the men have left to find opportunities elsewhere. While her tormented mother waits in vain for her husband’s return, Ladydi dreams of a future that holds more promise than mere survival.
As we follow Ladydi from her village to a wealthy home in Acapulco, and further to a women’s prison in Mexico City, her resilience and spirited resolve bring hope to otherwise heartbreaking conditions.
An illuminating and affecting portrait of women in rural Mexico, and a stunning exploration of the hidden consequences of an unjust war, Prayers for the Stolen is an unforgettable story of friendship, family, and determination.
About the Author
Jennifer Clement has studied literature in New York and Paris. She was awarded the NEA Fellowship for Literature for Prayers for the Stolen, which will be her first novel published in the United States. She currently lives in Mexico City and is President of PEN Mexico.