The Woman on the Windowsill: A Tale of Mystery in Several Parts

The Woman on the Windowsill: A Tale of Mystery in Several Parts
ISBN-10
0300252358
ISBN-13
9780300252354
Category
History
Pages
296
Language
English
Published
2020-02-18
Publisher
Yale University Press
Author
Sylvia Sellers-García

Description

A true story of violence and punishment that illuminates a transformative moment in Guatemalan history On the morning of July 1, 1800, a surveyor and mapmaker named Cayetano Díaz opened the window of his study in Guatemala City to find a horrific sight: a pair of severed breasts. Offering a meticulously researched and evocative account of the quest to find the perpetrator and understand the motives behind such a brutal act, this volume pinpoints the sensational crime as a watershed moment in Guatemalan history that radically changed the nature of justice and the established social order. Sylvia Sellers-García reveals how this bizarre and macabre event spurred an increased attention to crime that resulted in more forceful policing and reflected important policy decisions not only in Guatemala but across Latin America. This fascinating book is both an engaging criminal case study and a broader consideration of the forces shaping Guatemala City at the brink of the modern era.

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