Clement has dug into life in a village of women outside Acapulco, Mexico where the men have moved away seeking opportunity and the cartels reign supreme.

"Love is not a feeling. It's a sacrifice."

Ladydi (yes named after that Lady Di) carries us through her adolescence. It's a world where the worst thing is to be born a girl, and the second worst is to be born a pretty girl. They chop off their hair and black out their teeth and smear dirt on their faces and hide in holes in the ground to evade being kidnapped and trafficked by the cartel.

This is a hard book where violence proliferates with a Tarantino-esque matter of factness that propels the story without dwelling too long on any one horror. There's always something worse, more extreme, more exacting around the corner and Clement's narrative pushes into very uncomfortable places while somehow maintaining a humorous thread.

It's brilliant.

Because while the subject matter is tough, Clement's writing is delightful. Her characters, reminiscent of early Allende, are outrageous and unique and passionate and enthralling. They endure atrocities and don't run around feeling sorry for themselves. Oh the luxury! They have to keep going.

Luna, whose arm has been amputated, pins the unneeded sleeve from all of her dresses into a shrine to her lost limb above her bed. Need I say more?

"Don't ever pray for love and health, mother said, or money. If God hears what you really want he will not give it to you. Guaranteed."

Said by the woman who won't clean up blood because it's "not her thing," but she will show you how to bury a body.

Also, the audiobook narrator is fantastic.