Cautiva (Captive): Testimonio de un secuestro (Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Clara Rojas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 2009

Clara Rojas fue secuestrada en el 2002 por las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) junto a la ex-candidata presidencial Íngrid Betancourt y liberada en el 2008 luego de casi seis años de cautiverio. En su libro Cautiva, Clara cuenta por primera vez la historia de su secuestro, el milagroso nacimiento de su hijo Emmanuel en medio de la selva, el sufrimiento inmenso por haber sido separada de su hijo cuando éste apenas tenía ocho meses de vida, y finalmente el emocionante reencuentro con él tres años después.

En este desgarrador relato, Clara revela en detalle el dolor de dar a luz en medio de la selva en manos de un enfermero que antes sólo había atendido a animales, el cansancio de largas caminatas de hasta ocho horas a través de la selva, el miedo de no saber si terminaría viva al final del día, y su amistad con Íngrid Betancourt, que no sobrevivió a la prueba del secuestro.

Ésta es también una historia de fe que revela que Clara nunca perdió la esperanza de volver a ver a su hijo y que la ilusión de volverlo a ver fue lo único que la motivó a seguir luchando

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Clara Rojas is a lawyer and was the campaign director of Ingrid Betancourt’s presidential campaign when they were kidnapped by the FARC in 2002. She gave birth to her son Emmanuel during her captivity but he was taken from her when he was only eight months old. After six years of captivity she was finally liberated. Clara and her son currently live in BogotÁ, Colombia.

Translator:

Adriana V. LÓpez is the founding editor of CrÍticas, Publishers Weekly's sister magazine devoted to the Spanish-language publishing world. She is the co-editor of Barcelona Noir, a short story collection for Akashic Books, as well as the editor of Fifteen Candles: 15 Tales of Taffeta, Hairspray, Drunk Uncles and Other QuinceaÑera Stories (HarperCollins, 2007). Lopez's work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post, among other publications and book anthologies. Her essays and fiction have appeared in Juicy Mangoes (Simon & Schuster, 2007), Border-Line Personalities: A New Generation of Latinas Dish on Sex, Sass & Cultural Shifting (HarperCollins, 2004), and Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism (Seal Press, 2002). LÓpez is a member of PEN America and currently divides her time between New York and Madrid.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books (October 6, 2009)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 1439159807
• ISBN-13: 978-1439159804
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #505,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Libros en español > No-Ficción > Hechos Verídicos
  • #58 in Books > Libros en español > Biografías y memorias > Memorias

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A touching, human story, November 23, 2009

By 

D. Garvey (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cautiva (Captive): Testimonio de un secuestro (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

I found this book highly worth reading. Some reviewers on this site are offended because it doesn't contain the political viewpoints they are looking for; in fact, it doesn't present much of a political position at all. Instead, Clara Rojas gives us the story of her six agonizing years in captivity and her efforts to cope with having lost all control of her life for such a long period. The book is an easy read. The prose isn't as polished as it could be; it could have used more editing for typos and at times I had the impression that details were left out because the author couldn't immediately recall them and neither she nor her editor ever took the time to follow up. But providing a detailed historical record is not what was important to Rojas in this writing. She focuses largely on her son Emmanuel, who was conceived and born in captivity and separated from her at the age of eight months. To protect the boy's privacy, she gives no information about his father's identity or the circumstances of their physical union. While not the kind of tell-all approach we are used to in the early 21st century, this is quite understandable, and I was riveted by the harrowing story of the child's birth in the jungle. Her captors improvised and badly botched a cesarian section, leaving both mother and child with injuries that required later surgical correction. Rojas was bedridden in severe pain for a month after Emmanuel's birth and for another month, once freed, after an operation to repair damage to her digestive tract. In the author's descriptions of her captors and her companions in captivity I didn't always find the most sympathetic players where I might have expected. There isn't a lot of gossip in the book, but the story did make me wonder about fellow captives who seem to have displayed astonishing selfishness. Of course, this is only one person's story. I recommend it without reservation.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nada mal / Not bad at all, July 17, 2010

By 

Kallisto (EU) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cautiva (Captive): Testimonio de un secuestro (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

Frankly, I don't understand why so many people seem to be disappointed or annoyed with this book.
I found its narrative to be simple, unpretentious, authentic and thereby moving.
In its tone it is perhaps similar to a journal. Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.
Personally, I am more interested in reading about human experiences, from a personal point of view - not political manifestos.

Well done, Clara.



Francamente, no entiendo porque tanta gente parece tan desilusionada por este libro.
Yo lo encuentro sencillo, sin pretensiones, autentico y por lo tanto conmovedor.
Si, su tono es semejante al tono de un diario, escrito en circunstacias extraordinarias. Que hay de malo en eso?
A mi me interesa leer experiencias personales, no manifiestos sobre politica.

Bien hecho, Clara.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars personal surviving account, February 2, 2010

By 

Jannine Pizarro - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cautiva (Captive): Testimonio de un secuestro (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

This book has more of a personal surviving account without mixing so much with politics.
It is more of a "coping mechanism" account of Clara Rojas while being on the jungle.
Clara Rojas is extremately forgiving and her account does not provide the details of the FARC's that some people seek.
Yet is worthy and it is a great book to read paired with the book "Out of Captivity" written by the three Americans.