Prayers for the Stolen

This is a brilliant novel about one of the sad realities of Mexico. Everyone who cares about Mexico should read it.

Prayers for the Stolen is excellent! It is beautifully written and is a heart wrenching expose of one of the most brutal aspects of the rampant and powerful drug trade in Mexico. But the book does not take you through a graphic Tarantino tour of the horrors implicit in the story. Instead, Clement manages to focus on the endurance and resilience of the women who face unspeakable abuse and trauma. We can imagine but do not relive the terror. We see the before and after, the anticipation of and the recovering from. The facts are harrowing, but the telling of the story is not.The main characters live under the constant threat of violence. They are invisible to the world, living in remote and very poor regions of Mexico where the narco-traffickers rule. The setting is Mad Max desolate, terrifying and hopeless. But the drama is not loud. It does not harangue. It is muted and the language and voices are of the land, rustic, raw and unadorned.The novel gets inside the "collateral damage" space of global social and political upheaval. The victims live in NAFTA's wake, abandoned mostly by men gone off to the US to work, but who, in the "va y ven" of it all, end up never coming back. They live in the dusty shoulders of the Meso American narco- highway. Young women are randomly killed, maimed or "stolen" from their homes when the speeding SUVs veer off their beaten path so the traffickers can go foraging for pretty girls. The girls are not "kidnapped" in the traditional sense, as there is no ransom to be had. They are abducted or "stolen" for the purpose being sold into prostitution or used as personal pleasure toys.As always, Jennifer Clement has written the reader into a very quiet and internal place. Seated at the hearth or at the table we are immersed in a contemporary update of the quotidian details of an ancient culture. Lady Diana worship, Rap and Hip Hop and cell phones are as central to life as the Virgin de Guadalupe,scorpions, chiles and tortillas.Prayers for the Stolen is an intimate look at poverty and human trafficking in Mexico from the inside out. But it also draws the global context that connects us from the outside in. This novel does not allow us to escape from our relationship to or our responsibility in the story.Bravo!

Well-written. The story and the characters are well defined and visible. Fiction, based in the current day reality of the drug trafficking, disappearing girls, and the subtle ways that the U.S. contributes to the ongoing crisis. The ending is a little weak. If not for that, i would have given it a five star.

The book jacket description of Prayers for the Stolen hit me with an overwhelming compulsion to want to read this novel about the lives of young girls abducted by the Mexican drug cartels. At the outset of the narrative, the plot is a tad slow in developing and also jumpy in its chronology. However, something alarmingly powerful can be detected pushing through the sketchiness of the early chapters. Once the characters are established and the story reveals enough information to see the extreme difficulty of life in the small mountain town of Guerrero, the narrative becomes entirely mesmerizing and gains unstoppable momentum that did not free me from the page.The novel’s remarkable narrator and heroine is Ladydi Garcia Martinez. Along with the other unfortunate girls and their families, Ladydi faces terrifying hardships in a story that delivers on all levels of humanity. It is harrowing and sorrowful to experience the realism of how their lives are completely destroyed by the organized crime of the cartels. As this novel continues to unleash its power, the sparseness of the prose slowly begins to embellish and become outright profound with its imagery and beauty. The story generates great compassion with its examination of the adversity endured by mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, and family and friends. Even with all the pain and horror the story confronts, it is ultimately a book about survival and hope. You will hardly experience a reality that is more jarring and eye-opening than the one Jennifer Clement allows us to enter in Prayers for the Stolen.

This book was our book club’s choice. We have yet to meet to discuss, however, the early comments by members is that thoroughly enjoyed it. For me, it was a tough read subject-wise. It’s hard to imagine how cruel just existing in this world it can be. Even more so if you know at any moment your carefully built world crashes down on you and what guts it takes to survive. It truly disturbs me the plight of the young girls stolen by men whether in the Mexican drug cartels or other powerful groups who think they own whomever they see or want.

Another horrible story of what women endure in Mexico as a result of the machismo characteristics of Mexican men. Brutality at it's worst.

My order arrived earlier than expected, in great shape. Very good experience!

Clement takes you on a journey into the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, the customs and culture, life, loss, death and disappointment. A forgotten patch of jungle where there are no men, and mothers disguise their daughters as boys to allude being kidnapped and sold by the cartels. Real. Riveting. A worthwhile read.

This is one of only two Kindle titles I have ever pre-ordered. I did so on the basis of Jamie Bing's recommendation as a must-read for 2014 and am extremely glad I did.It explores a world where young and beautiful girls are stolen by the omnipotent drug cartels to be sold or used; where the police are lawless and corrupt; a mountain community which is almost exclusively female because all the men leave for America, never to return.It's beautifully written - amidst the brutality and desolation of Ladydi's world, Clement's often poetic prose shines. Phrases and metaphors linger in the mind. Despite the harsh environment (geographically and sociologically) Ladydi is a resilient, feisty and witty protagonist, providing much-needed humour - and hope - among the bleakness.The suffocating fear of the all-powerful 'narcos' and the hopelessness of the situation was so effectively realised that while one part of me reeled in horror & disbelief, the other was completely immersed in that world..Not an easy read in terms of subject matter - and all the better for that. It is illuminating, thought-provoking, touching and heart-breaking.Ladydi's resilience and humour and the mutual support the women and girls share prevent Prayers for the Stolen from being unremittingly bleak. Highly recommended for those who like an intelligent, multi-layered read.

Prayers for the Stolen is such an interesting book. After studying a little of the femicides throughout Mexico I was intrigued to learn more and actually was looking for a fiction book to add to my essay. This one is one I have since recommended to my tutors to consider putting on the reading lists. It's tense and also indicates to the reality women and girls have in Mexico, the most interesting element for me was the discussion of having to make themselves ugly so not to draw attention.If you are unfamiliar with the femicides of women, please look it up and give this a read!

A really different story from a part of the world which is rarely represented. Captivating from page one, this extraordinary tale of young girls stolen from their villages is both moving and shocking. Superstition, violence and brutality define the lives of the women and children left behind by the men who manage to cross the border from Mexico into the USA to work in the illegal drug trade which has blighted the economy and the lives of the population. I strongly recommend this book.

This book is a masterpiece so beautifully written. It is my first time of reading Jennifer Clement and I feel so grateful to have discovered such an amazing magical accomplished writer. Thank you, now I am inspired and looking forward to reading more from this wonderful author.

This book was brilliant. Couldn’t put it down, a must read, brutal and honest.Very tragic way of life indeed