Skip to main content

Prayers for the Stolen

Author Jennifer Clement tells a beautifully haunting story about friendship, family,  and a life lived in fear of becoming a "Stolen Girl."

Prayers for the Stolen follows the life of a young girl named Ladydi, who like all young girls on the mountain of Guerrero, Mexico, lives with an ear to the ground just listening for the sound of the SUV of the cartel coming to snatch her.  She keeps her hair short,  her teeth black and her skin dirty.  This was common practice for little girls living in a time and place where drug Lords ruled. 

"When I was born,  my Mother announced to her neighbors and people in the market that a boy had been born.  
Thank God a boy was born! she said.
Yes, thank God and the Virgin Mary, everyone answered though no one was fooled.   On our mountain only boys were born,  and some of them turned into girls around the age of eleven.   Then these boys had to turn into ugly girls who sometimes had to hide in holes in the ground. " (pg. 4)

Ladydi's story is tragic as she learns family secrets and says goodbye to many, including best friend,  Paula, who becomes a Stolen girl but escapes and lives to tell the story.  It is chilling to the bone and heartbreaking all at once.

I could not put this book down and when I had to, I found myself thinking about the little girl on the mountain and wondering what would become of her.  It is written in such a powerful way and the chapters are short.   You'll catch yourself saying,  "just one more chapter. " This book received rave reviews from the Wall Street Journal and Yann Martel, the author of another page turner and recent movie,  Life of Pi.

The quality of the book is also very good.   Even my husband noticed and commented.  It's a 200 page paperback with a very pretty and intriguing cover.   I would be lying if I said that the cover had no influence on my decision to check out this book.

I would recommend this book,  but with a disclaimer that it does contain some language and gruesome descriptions of murder and sexuality/rape.  

I received a free hard copy of this book from bloggingforbooks.org in exchange for writing an honest review. 

Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 8, 2014 at 4:46 AM

    Not something I would pick. But you make it sound good. :)-Stephanie

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Review of "Safe House"

I am not a safe house.   But I knew that, and that's why I felt compelled to explore this book. When my son became a "threenager" seemingly overnight, I stopped being a safe house.  I started parenting out of fear and survival.  I started reacting.  I started punishing instead of disciplining.  Or maybe, maybe this is how I've always been and it is just surfacing more with each challenge.  In any case,  I now have three sons three and under,  and I am terrified....not of just having children who misbehave, but of having children who are resentful of me and of God.  Joshua Straub, PhD, and author of this book is a Dad of two young children.  That is to say,  he's in the trenches with us.   He also works with the American Association of Counselors, so he has a lot of helpful skills to offer every reader. There are three parts to the book. Part one outlines why emotional safety is necessary. It requires the reader to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day one of Loving Well

Today is day one of reading my next book - One Month to Love by Kerry Shook.  It's right up my alley - journaling and making people feel loved.  Two great joys of mine.  (I'm much better at journaling in a real live journal than I am in an online blog - have no fear.) I received this book for free on bloggingforbooks.com. At the end of each chapter there's a "Challenge" section.  Today's challenges? Pick three people on whom to focus during the next month.   Jessie Buske Mom Brandon Do a facebook fast once a week and write a friend a handwritten card or go for coffee. (deal) Think about inviting three or four friends to try this challenge. (eh...I don't know...) Day one was easy peasy.  Edit:  so as it turns out, you really need to choose people with whom you can have face-to-face interaction.  For that reason I failed to stay engaged in this process.  It would be fun to try again! 
Post a Comment
Read more

Finding Jesus review

I was in the mood for something light-hearted and this fit the bill. Finding Jesus, by Winston Rowntree,   has essentially no words,  minus the intro,  which honestly I could have done without.  The book is basically Where's Waldo only one is looking for Jesus.  I knew it might be a bit borderline blasphemous but the intro was the worst of it.   I actually enjoyed the pictures a lot.   The detail was incredible and I loved the Biblical references - Jesus waving to Moses or Noah, or turning water into wine.   It was clever,  creative and overall a fun way to pass the time. At first I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for.   Jesus doesn't have the same obvious attire that Waldo sports, and sometimes Jesus isn't even in color,  but once I spotted him I just knew. It's a fun book,  but be careful if giving it as a gift.   I could see it being offensive to some. I received a free copy of...
Post a Comment
Read more