Prayers for the Stolen

A Novel

By: Jennifer Clement

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Ladydi Garcia Martinez 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.

Contains mature themes.

©2014 Jennifer Clement (P)2018 Tantor

Super sad story

Narrator did a great job with the story. It's a super sad story about a girl in Mexico and her existence. They live an hour outside Acapulco in the jungle. Cartel men are sent in to take the young girls and use them for whatever purpose they'd like. The whole trajectory is dismal and doesn't leave you with much of anything you can do about the situation.

Such a true sad story.

The story was great. I am from Mexico. I actually live in the state of Guerrero. (It was too bad the reader did not know how to pronounce it correctly).
This state is known for its conflicts. Not only with the cartel but the people who are from this state have also hardened. As a Mexican indigenous woman I felt the story compelling. Unfortunately the story is not just fiction and I hope there could be a change regarding the disappearance of women.

I had some trouble with the reader’s voice but I let go of it because the story was great. Not sure if it can be edited again. Perhaps having someone else read it would give it more emphasis.

Poignant topic fabulous story

LadyDi and her mother are compelling characters that tell the story of so many Mexican women. It gives a voice to the voiceless.

I don’t know how to feel about this...

The narrator really threw me off because her voice and accent didn’t make any sense as the voice of the main character. I struggled with her voice throughout the book. Another thing I didn’t like was that there were times when it was unclear whether she was talking about the past or the present which was confusing and that’s one of my pet peeves. However, the story was very sad and the lives of the characters were very tragic. In the end the author gives insight about how these are very real stories and things happening to women in Mexico. Even though I did not enjoy listening to it majority of the time, by the end of it I had found somewhat of an appreciation for the story being told. I think she’s spreading awareness which is always good but I think it could have been executed much better.

good reading

Very detailed, good-fair. Really expected a better ending. I may read more of her books.