Preeta Chag

Pub by: Penguin Random House UK

Rating: 3 stars

“I loved him.”  It seems a strange reason and argument to live with a person of horrific crimes.  “While many may find that response inadequate, the truth is that’s the reason I remained by his side till the end of his life.”

‘Mrs Escobar- My Life with Pablo’ is the closest personal encounter with the world’s most dreaded druglord, Pablo Escobar, who met his death in 1993.

Maria Victoria Henao, the wife of the dreaded criminal Pablo Escobar, the author of this book, continuously talks of her love for him, her ignorance of the extent of his crimes and her fear and horror of his ways.

She met Pablo when she was only 13, eloped with him at 15, and had been with him for 16 years till his death. In this book, she narrates her tumultuous journey from the moment she married to her final negotiation of peace with the cartel after Pablo Escobar’s death and her escape to safety.

Pablo Escobar’s file of crimes is notorious and well-known. His greatest fear was extradition to the US if he were caught. And that is why he fought his entire life to cancel Colombia’s extradition treaty with the US. His failed foray in politics further enraged him and left him frustrated, leading him to more cruelties and violence.

In his personal life, too, he was unfaithful with a penchant for pleasure and fun. But yet, Victoria stayed on.

Questions yet remain unanswered. Was she so unaware of her husband’s crimes as she claims? And why did she stay with him? “How could you sleep with a monster?” When one of the victims of her husband asked her, she had only one answer. She loved him more than his crimes.

The book also narrates the Robin Hood side of Pablo Escobar, who was fiercely committed to helping the underprivileged…building soccer fields and housing societies for the underprivileged.

The book moves continuously through different time zones, making it a little difficult to follow keep a track of timelines. But the book is a revelation in human behaviour. The committed wife. The notorious, unfaithful husband. The innocent and helpless children. Each day was a battle for safety.  The bravest part is when Victoria bargains for her and her children’s safety with the cartel after her husband’s death. Even after Escobar’s death in 1993, Victoria faced great risk from the government and his fellow enemies. It must have taken a herculean amount of courage to go and deal alone with the cartel leaders and prosecutors for a safe passage for herself and her children. But she did it.

Today, Victoria and her children live in Argentina.

Escaped from fear and retribution, but never from the past which haunts each day, each minute and each second of their existence.