Una secuestrada ejemplar

In a country where violence is the daily bread, kidnapping becomes just another custom. It is precisely from this custom that this true story of the young Manuela, the girl who smelled of smoke, emerges. An exemplary kidnapped exalts in the figure of the kidnapper, beyond the strict compliance with his extortionist action, the normal behavior of a group of people who feel and suffer like any mortal. The author shows a different dimension of kidnapping than usual, without ever ignoring that negotiating with life is a violent and inhuman act. Manuela (Ani), the young protagonist of this story, has grown up in a natural and simple environment, surrounded by affection and living teaching. She has learned to do everything: to cook, to sell, to send and drive trucks. It is her character, industrious and innocent, that will allow her to win the affection and admiration of her kidnappers, who cannot imagine that a girl of her social status would have fun teaching them how to swim, skin chickens, sow, clean, to sweep and even put flowers on the table. She is a hostage different from the others; a kidnapped woman who will learn to live shoulder to shoulder with her kidnappers, turning tragedy into a bit of happiness.