Calgary Public Library

Prayers for the stolen., Jennifer Clement

eng

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fiction

Prayers for the stolen.

dictionaries

Jennifer Clement

A hauntingly beautiful story of love and survival that introduces an unforgettable literary heroineThe mountains of Guerrero, Mexico - home to 13-year-old Ladydi Garcia Martinez, her friends and family -- are a world unto themselves. Children flee military planes dropping chemical poisons on the poppy fields to kill the opium crops, without regard for the fragile flesh burning below. 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. Here, where the drug lords are kings, being a girl is a dangerous thing. Mothers disguise their daughters as sons, and 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 safe out of sight.While her tormented mother waits in vain for her husband's return, Ladydi and her friends dream of a future that holds more promise than mere survival. When Ladydi is offered work as a nanny for a wealthy family in Acapulco, she seizes the opportunity, 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.From the Hardcover edition