Textures of Terror: The Murder of Claudina Isabel Velasquez and Her Father's Quest for Justice (Volume 55)

by Victoria Sanford

Investigating the unsolved murder of a female law student and the pervasive violence against Guatemalan women that drives migration.

Part memoir and part forensic investigation,  Textures of Terror is a gripping first-person story of women, violence, and migration out of Guatemala—and how the United States is implicated. Accompanying Jorge Velásquez in a years-long search for answers after the brutal murder of his daughter Claudina Isabel, Victoria Sanford explores what it means to seek justice in "postconflict" countries where violence never ended.

Through this father's determined struggle and other stories of justice denied, Textures of Terror offers a deeper understanding of US policies in Latin America and their ripple effect on migration. Sanford offers an up-close appraisal of the inner workings of the Guatemalan criminal justice system and how it maintains inequality, patriarchy, and impunity. Presenting the stories of other women who have suffered at the hands of strangers, intimate partners, and the security forces, this work reveals the deeply gendered nature of power and violence in Guatemala.

Genres: Audiobook, True Crime

230 pages, Hardcover

Published May 9, 2023

Reviews

[Isabela Herckes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was truly moved while reading this book. Full disclosure, I only read this book because I am going to attend a lecture by the author on the subject and I didn't want to play catch-up on the material for the entire lecture - I wanted to meaningfully engage with the author on the information that she has been working so hard to share. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who values learning about social issues and the current affairs of other countries.

[LICELOT HAYES]

Very informative book! Provided a lot of unknown information about the treatment of women in Guatemala.

[halima · Rating 4 out of 5]

read most of this in class but definitely a difficult read but rewarding

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

“This is how it works. Everyone has the recourse of violence. But some people, because they are very rich or powerful, have more recourse to more violence. And because violence has magical qualities, this violence is structured in such a way that these same people can claim innocence or ignorance of its deployment even as terror imbues each moment of everyday life.”