A Stolen Life: A Memoir

Wow!! Thanks to Kindle, I was able to download the book at about one in the morning, and it's now seven in the morning. I have not read a book in one sitting, or in one night for years! People who saw the ABC interview with Diane Sawyer saw how warm and lovely this young lady is, and her book is like the interview but a hundred times warmer and more personal. Jaycee's story is refreshing in that it's written by her, and not from a co-author. Much of the book are pages and pages taken from the actual journal entries she wrote while in her backyard prison. You can tell that her journal entries read in much same way as the rest of the book, so in a sense, the entire book is a continuation of her journaling and her ongoing mission in life to help others. For example, it's hard to tell when you're reading from her old journal entries from her more current writings of when she's authoring this book. It's really all one voice, and you definitely get a feel for how her voice resonates through. Some readers on comment sections of news sites have mentioned they don't want to read the book due to graphic scenes being portrayed. Yes, these scenes are there, but written in a very mature way that I think people should really read. The book doesn't focus on these scenes, as rather the book focuses on simply sharing her story and conveying her sense of hope that's still beaming today. But the sexual abuse scenes are important to all of America as they describe horrifying sexual acts that often go by generic terms like 'rape' and 'molestation.' But what do those mean? Jaycee paints a much clearer picture, and in doing so, acts as the voice for all the victims of sexual abuse that can't share their story. In America, sexual abuse is something that gets pushed under the rug, or punished. It's like there's no in between. Jaycee didn't know what the word rape meant while the act was being done to her, and I remember when I was 11 (I was also born in 1980 like Jaycee), I didn't know what the word rape meant either. I don't think I learned what the word meant until I was 13 or 14. Perhaps if more people learn about sexual abuse, and what it actually entails, then more can be done to protect innocent victims. And more importantly, when people realize what goes on behind closed doors of rapists, perhaps there won't be parole after just a few years for somebody who had already raped a woman for eight hours straight in a warehouse. Jaycee does an excellent job showing how her captor is a repeat offender, one that therapy cannot solve. Jaycee goes on to describe the failure of the therapists that her captor visited, and how they enabled him more than anything by allowing him to make excuses rather than be accountable for his behavior. With all this being said, this book is probably not for young teenagers to read by themselves, as Jaycee shares vivid accounts of sexual abuses that happened to her; abuses she didn't even know the names for at the time. Cautiously I note, the entire book would be a great one for a parent and teenager to read and discuss together, with parental guidance on parts of the book that are tough to read or perhaps need proper perspective put into place. (Parents, you must read the book first, as you're the one to judge if the book is appropriate or not for your teenager). In my opinion, I think it's a subject that needs to be talked about more, even if it's difficult to read, but of course, that's up to parental discretion. The only part I found that was hard to read in the book were the journal entries that talk about her thoughts and reactions to her captor's ongoing talk about Angels and how her captor believed the Angels control people. I don't know how many pages in the regular book, but it was a few pages on the Kindle. While it's tough to read, it illuminates just how unimaginably tougher it would be to live in that kind of manipulative situation on a daily basis. What's also tough but enlightening to read is how much compassion she has for all the animals she cared for. Through all the events taking place upon her rescue, she even asks a couple officers if they can check on her animals and make sure they're okay, at which time the officers made sure to find them and get them temporary foster homes. The irony that develops through her selfless caring often mirrored her own reality: For example, Jaycee starts feeling really badly about one of her cats being locked up with her all the time, and feeling guilty for wanting the cat's company, she shares how a shed is no place for a cat. Yet she never shows any kind of self-pity on her own situation...all you see is your strength and courage. I just can't believe these things happened to an 11 year old girl. You really get a sense into the manipulation of the captors (I refuse to say their names) and how through the horror of everything, Jaycee completely shines light throughout her memoir. It's like there's not even a 'hate' bone in her body -- she's an inspiration to us all; that love and hope conquers no matter. And the best thing is that the entire memoir is written so warmly, it's like Jaycee is sharing her story with you directly at the dinner table. And she goes on to share, now that she and her family are free, something very important to her: The simple daily act of cooking great foods and eating at the dinner table. One last thing, in her journal entries she mentions her goals and plans for her future once she becomes free -- so many of them she's actually doing!

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Lee Duggard There are books that resonate with you, books you'll always remember because there is something in them that touches something in you. The Bell Jar by Slyvia Plath, Kindred by Octavia Butler, and Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison are some of the books I will always remember. I've just added A Stolen Life by Jaycee Lee Duggard to this collection. It's a beautifully written, and chilling narrative account of eighteen years of captivity through the eyes of the child Jaycee was and the adult (still somewhat child-like) she's become. I read this memoir in one day. As I usually do with narratives dealing with abuse, I tried to rush through it. I'm of the whole `ripping the bandaid off' mentality so I wanted to read it, get through it, and know this brave woman's story. Instead, I found myself re-reading certain parts because I was so shocked and disgusted I couldn't believe what I'd read. The chapter "The First Time" made me sick to my stomach. It is an appropriate name for that chapter because it is a first for both Jaycee and the reader (well me personally). I can't remember reading anything so graphically disturbing, and this chapter sets the tone of the memoir. At eleven years old, Jaycee Lee is not only kidnapped and enslaved, she's forced to lose her virginity to a psychotic pervert in a backyard hovel. I know it will get worse from there, and I'm numb, and not as shocked but still disgusted, when I read about Phillip Garrido's drug-induced `runs.' Runs are moments of time (days) when the monster acts out his fantasies on a helpless little girl. They are so despicable, you will cry. And though this book is centered around the abuse done to an innocent child, it is also about hope, acceptance and unwavering love. Jaycee Lee Duggard is a remarkable human being. For someone who's experienced hell, she has a remarkably hopeful outlook on life. She loves animals, she loves her daughters, and she loves the family the monster ripped her from, so when she smiles and her eyes grow bright with happiness, it's because of them. Jaycee says she doesn't `hate' the monster and his enabling wife who is as much a monster as he, because to do so would give them power of her. So instead, she smiles, and laughs, and tries to focus on the positive. In her "Reflections" (which come after each chapter), Jaycee states that she doesn't know why she didn't leave sooner, but I believe the reason is tied to Jaycee's overwhelming instinct to survive. Already shy, at 11, Jaycee relearned the world through the eyes of a predator and pervert, and in it, she was the prey. The monster had a stun-gun that could shock her into paralysis, and supposed dogs that patrolled outside, and later, when she was older, he was her protector from the `evil' outside world. So Jaycee adapted, and in the adaptation, grew complacent. I've read comments from many people asking why she didn't just leave once she was older, and that answer seems so simple after reading her memoir. She didn't know how. It was the monster's world, and she was simply trying to survive. When she was taken, Jaycee didn't know right from wrong, good from bad, in terms of relationships. The monster assumed so many roles that she couldn't help but be confused: rapist, molester, torturer, father, friend and protector. As I read this story, and all of the depraved things done to Jaycee Lee's body with hardly a complaint from her, I get the feeling in my heart that if Jaycee had protested or rebelled as many wanted her to, she wouldn't be alive today to share this tale with us. After finishing the book, I just want to give her a big hug for writing this story because there are countless children/adults who've suffered abuse and are silent about it. There's a shame that's heaped onto victims of sexual predators and this memoir cracked it. In the narrative, she says the reason she wrote this down was because she wasn't keeping `their' secret anymore. I wanted to cheer. The shame isn't the victims'. It's the abusers'. Jaycee Lee Duggard wrote with unflinching precision, and gave us a glimpse into eighteen years of abuse, neglect, and brain-washing. I sincerely hope that Jaycee has nothing but good fortune for the rest of her life. She's endured for eighteen years what many of us couldn't. For those who say `she could have freed herself sooner,' perhaps, perhaps not. In situations like these, we outsiders can say whatever we think because we are thinking with a different mindset. The truth is, were you in Jaycee's shoes, you have no idea what you could or would have done to ensure survival.

I finally got this book from Amazon about a week ago and I've been hesitant to read it due to all the graphic warnings. To be blunt, the only readers who will have problems reading the graphic details in Jaycee's memoir are the people who have little-to-no experience reading about such accounts in other books. I've read about similar experiences in other books and fanfiction and Jaycee writes about her terrible experiences in a brief but similar fashion. In fact, what makes this book all the more compelling is that she doesn't have to be detailed (and why should she?) You could basically fill in the holes yourself. What you need to understand about this book is that it's a very personality-based book. If you're not interested in Jaycee the person (who she was and who she grew up to be), then I'm sorry that this is not the book you've been waiting for. That will be a book written either in the future or never at all. We'll never know. Like many of you, I do have some unanswered questions after reading this, but that is not the basis of this book. However, there were questions that did get answered (or at least I was able to figure them out) and I have a much better understanding about her story and of herself (past, present, future) than I ever did before. The experiences aren't really the essence of the book but rather about Jaycee's personality which played a huge part in why she never escaped or sought help out of her captivity. Again, these aren't detailed. You have to REALLY put yourself in your shoes from when she was 11 years old and all of this stuff happened. Whether you believe it or not chances are that many would've had the same mindset and make the same choices had we been in Jaycee's situation at the time. As for the book, I can't believe the amount of ridiculous complaints on here about how she wrote this. Maybe it's because that this is the first memoir/autobiography I've ever read possibly ever, but it's a really impressive book and I was rather surprised she was able to get this written and published so quickly. I thought it would be a whole decade before we would see a book like this. And even though she said that she might tell more about her story in the future (when she has a better understanding of it), I learned a lot more about what happened to her in this book than all the mixed of up info the media has provided since the story came out in 2009. She even corrected some of the media's errors about certain details. As far as memoirs go, I know most of them are ghostwritten, so give her some credit. She wrote the whole damn thing herself which is more than I can say for other media icons who could easily fabricate what they want their readers to read. I was a Creative Writing major in college and believe me when I say that the courses didn't teach me a whole lot about writing than what I've learned through my own constant practice of writing the stuff I wanted to write. I think it's a great start and I know in time, she'll get so much better at it and may one day become a professional. Despite all the bad that the whole world knows happens to her, the book ends as a feel good story which is in essence the way good books should be. So please buy and read this book if you haven't already.

I remember the news coverage when Jaycee Dugard was obducted. I recall the images of her sweet face on the screen, and how her mom was desperate for any sign of her little girl. That sign didn't come till nearly two long decades later, but through a miracle, their reunion happened and their worlds can once again be one. I cried tears of joy to see that reunion, because as a parent of young daughters, I cannot fathom how they got through those 18 years. This is Jaycee's story, in her own words, in her own way, and it is raw and real. She shares photos from her early childhood, of happy times with her mom, her baby sister, her love of outdoors and animals. She paints for us the picture of a self conscious little girl, intimidated by a less-than-loving stepfather, Carl. And we see a child who doesn't make friends easily, but when she does, they are for life. Then Jaycee rips the fences away. From the details of the very morning of her abduction, to the recovery process with her family years later upon reuniting, she minces no words when describing the horrors she withstood in her captivity. She describes sounds, smells, feelings, and fears; yet through it all, she holds onto hopes and dreams. Her ability to steel herself against the unthinkable at the hands of lunatic and drug addicted convicted child molestor, Phillip Garrido, and his accomplice wife, Nancy, are a testament to the power of the mind and spirit to overcome the worst of human conditions. Jaycee was taken against her will, forced to do as her abductors told her, forced to bear two children whom she loves and cares for deeply, and forced to exist in conditions unfit for any living creature. She takes us on her journey year by year, and reveals her affinity for cats, horses, even a spider that made it's way into her confines. She cares for and loves these animals and finds comfort in their presence, until her monster kidnapper steals even this little bit of joy away from her. In the midst of the horrors, Jaycee managed to hold onto dreams of her future. She teaches herself things, reads a lot and watches television. She is aware of the world outside her prison, and though unsure of what she would do or how she would live if she were ever freed, she made lists of her favorite things in the world, her best hobbies, music and personal goals. She showed such a solid and direct ability to be aware of things that should matter in the universe, even in the face of the complete injustice she was facing. The great tragedy was compounded over time as Garrido's parole officers managed to somehow miss the filthy compound in his backyard where Jaycee and her two daughters were literally "hiding in plain sight". They could have been rescued countless years earlier, had a smart enough individual done their job correctly in the child welfare system. I found myself unable to put this book down until the very end. My heart was so broken for the life these monsters took away, yet I was so grateful that she managed to keep her wits about her, not give up, not kill herself, not abandon her beautiful daughters, and never lose sight of that bright moon in the sky which was the only connection to her loving mother miles away. Her determination not to allow hate to consume her body allowed her to begin the healing process upon resuce sooner than had she sunk deep into seclusion and rejected help from loving friends, relatives, and a community of support including therapists and doctors. Through her honesty you can sense the pure joy for life and the ability to live free now, and it's evident that she will do great things in her future. Jaycee, you are a pillar of strength. Thank you for opening up to share your story, and for THEJAYCFOUNDATION.org., your project to assist families going through similar traumatic experiences.

I have to be honest as I'm inspired enough to write this review after only reading the very first two chapters. I will edit the end of this with my final opinions when I have finished the book, but I just had to add this. First of all, if Jaycee would ever get to read this review, I'd like to tell her what an inspiring, talented, Worthy woman she is. I want her to know how highly valued she is, & to never underestimate herself. She is truly a strong woman even if she doesn't feel like it at times & I pray that she will find healing from her long endured wounds. Jaycee, I wish I could sit down with you & share the love of Jesus Christ, & though it sounds foolish & brainwashed to people who don't really know Him, it makes me sad, for if they only understood, they'd grasp on too! :) Secondly, I am a woman who was domestically physically etc abused myself for 8 years. I never experienced the suffering that Jaycee did as a child, & I would Never compare the very different personal circumstances. I do know what it's been like for me to deal with traumatic abuse, & how hard it is to gain a "normal" perspective when "normal" for us is daily beatings, fear, humiliation, depression, loneliness, & despair. When the world & others, & things happening around you are viewed with those eyes, what is very "ok" for others who haven't experienced abuse, can totally freak out someone who is viewing things through our eyes, and vice verca. Such as something as simple as being at home alone at night. That to someone who never experienced abuse would be easily handled, it wouldn't be something difficult, it would actually be something to enjoy! A time of peace & privacy to watch that movie or read that book or catch up on things you haven't been able to get too! For someone who has been abused, being alone at night is a completely different story. It brings fear, anxiety, panic, extreme tension, nausea, headache, & emotional pain. Being alone brings back horrible memories, gives the mind time to recall past memories of pain & harm. Even without the remote chance of being harmed, there is an intense fear that the abuser is going to walk through that door & hurt you all over again or in my case, attempt to take your life. I can't explain it but if you've ever had the kind of fear where you feel like you can barely breathe, you can hear your heart beating, your muscles ache they're so tight, your stomach feels sick, & you feel you are in intense danger you're not sure you can get out of, that's what it feels like. Breaking that feeling isn't something you can "choose" to do. It takes a Long time. It takes encouragement, extreme understanding, Lots of counseling, learning to revalue yourself, learning that you are safe, being able to break your dependence on others, learning you can believe in yourself, & alot of time etc. Also viewing the world through an abused persons eyes, things that would generally set off a red flag to others who haven't been abused, will be completely overlooked & missed by the one who has been abused. For instance, A man can "worry" about you & have to know your every move, when you get home, when you get to work, when you left the grocery store. For an Unabused person this would quickly be recognized as control, paranoya (sp), & possibly a dangerous person to be around. A red flag would be detected & that person would cut off contact with them because they recognize it as unhealthy & possibly dangerous! An abused person who experiences the same thing is viewing those actions as loving, protective, caring, & feeling that that person is really looking out for the abused person & easily becomes entranced by amount of love that they believe is being shown for they Crave love like we need air to breathe when we've held our breath far too long. They easily can be manipulated & taken advantage of in different ways & levels over & over again. That's why it is So Imperatively Important for Anyone who has Ever been abused, no matter how bad or how long, to be sure that a counselor & proved trustworthy family members are kept very close & know every detail of every relationship as long as the abused person (I will not use the word victim) is healing. Keep this Rule with you at all times: If there is something about someone that you are afraid to share with others, that is a very bad sign that something is wrong. That's when you Run to tell you closest trusted confidant & counselor immediately before you accidentally endanger yourself. Tell them Everything. Don't kid yourself. Healing takes Years. Years. Years. when you think you're done...you find out you aren't & it takes more time. But keep going, when you fall down, get up Every time right away, dust yourself off, tell yourself that you are important that you have High Value! & there Are good people out there who won't take advantage, & you'll be ok. I only write all of this for two reasons, one the people who are reading this book are either those who have been abused & those who have not, & may not understand an abused person's world. I want to encourage those who have been abused, & share just a little with those who may not understand. I think that so far in this book, Jaycee has done a terrific job in explaining what happened to her, & how her life was from her eyes. I'm really enjoying it, & I hope you all do too! PS for the person who complained that she mentioned her cats too much....It does sound "odd" that someone would speak so much about a furry friend :) However, with someone who has suffered abuse at the hand of a person, they learn to distrust people very quickly. People can change how they treat you & act toward you very quickly, & we don't always know when that is going to happen & the more people mistreat, the more we distrust. When someone is mistreated that long by another person, you can easliy distrust Every person, or Most people. Now think of your dog. When you come home from work, before you open your front door, (unless your dog is sick, mistreated, or getting pretty old), do you Ever have to wonder what your dog's reaction to you walking in the door will be? Do you ever have to question whether your dog will greet you happily or in intense anger? No! We all know, the minute we open the door, our dog is going to come running over all happy & tail wagging & licking your face to see you. In fact if you pay attention, just thinking about that right before you open that door every day, you will smile unconsciously knowing how you are about to be greeted! (If your dog is ever greeting you in anger, then you may need to consider how you are treating your dog or if you dog is in pain or real sick!) We don't have that luxery with some people, & definately abusive people. Animals are scientifically proven to reduce stress, increase length of life, & boost morality. To an abused person who is faced with that fear & distrust of another human every day, all day, over a long period of time, with this Never ending, never a break, never a moment of feeling safe; an Animal who is a Constant, Reliable, Trustworthy, object of affection who loves All the time, is an incredible, Incredible thing of safety, rescue, & relief. It is the Only thing that relieves the stress & makes you feel good about yourself, & the only thing you can trust & oddly brings a small feeling of safety even if it's false. You crave love & need to feel like you can trust another & feel safe with another so much as a human being that when fully deprived of it & immersed in the opposite - abuse, an animal will become a Strong being to bond with. So that is why she talks about her cats so much. They are her trusted furry "people" & take on the role she desperately needed. That bond doesn't really break when you heal, you just become more whole. I still have a strong attachment to my cats, & miss the two who have died who gave me comfort while my husband was abusing me. But I also had God. & He is the one who really deserves the credit, for I know that if He wasn't watching out for me, & for Jaycee, either one of us may not have made it out alive. Thank you to anyone who read this long post lol I hope it helped!

Wow.. where to begin... This is definitely a very riveting read. It's very short, and the only time you'll want to put it down is when you need to take a minute to have an emotional breather. Like many others, I saw the interview with Diane Sawyer, and Jaycee's attitude about everything that's happened to her is unbelievable. She seems so warm and friendly, she's optimistic about the future, she isn't letting the horrific events of her past bring her down. And you can feel that attitude throughout the book. It definitely isn't professionally written, but she knows that and tells you not to expect that. I have to say that I definitely recommend this book... BUT I feel like I can only give it 3 stars. The first third of the book was the most detailed (and yes, some of those details are horrific and will leave you stunned) and the part I went through the fastest. The last third or so, taking place after she was found, was incredibly emotional and uplifting. Like I said, her outlook on life is inspiring. But the middle part of the book was the hardest to get through, for me. The passage of time was never clearly marked. In the beginning, her first few years in captivity (up until she had her daughters) were very detailed and had a pretty clear passage of time, and then all of a sudden the pace and tone of the book change quite a bit. One part I had problems getting through was the journal entries. There is point in the book where Jaycee stops narrating the book, and instead uses journal entries to tell the story. The entries cover a time of nearly 10 years (1998 to 2007), and they are certainly very interesting to read. She talks about her hopes and dreams for the future, her wish to run away and be free, and so many more things, all very deep and thoughtful. However, I would have enjoyed it much more if they were interspersed with more narration of Jaycee's, written in the present day. I read a review from the NY Times that said the early years were full of shock, and then they settled into a "weird domesticity." It's that domesticity that I wish I knew more about. The day to day life, and how she got through it, and how she interacted with her daughters (who were brought up as her sisters)... all of that is lacking in the middle part of the book. And yes, I know this will get me some scathing comments, but like some other reviewers here, I found the talk about her pets to be excessive. I understand that they were a huge part of her life.... but I felt like she talked and talked and talked about them... and yet barely mentioned her relationship with her daughters. Sometimes I feel like she talked so much about the pets in her life in order to avoid talking about harder things. It's like the pet sections (and they are numerous) are just fillers. I appreciated learning about her strong connection to animals, and how much they helped her get through the days... but I did not find it necessary to learn the names and colors and personalities of every single dog, cat, and bird she owned. Maybe it's because I've never been a big animal person, so maybe I just don't understand that connection... I don't know, it was just very hard for me to keep reading about them, I had to resist flipping ahead. Overall... if you're looking for the day to day minor details (take "Room", for example, it focuses very much on what the captives ate for dinner, what they did after dinner, etc etc) of Jaycee's captivity, you won't find it here. If that's all you're looking for, you will get just as much information from the interview she did, so the book isn't worth it. But if you saw the interview, and loved her amazing attitude and outlook on life, definitely read this. My 3 star rating is not a rating for Jaycee or her life or the terrible things that happened to her. It is a rating for the book. It is a riveting read, but you will speed through some parts and crawl through others. Many things are repetitive, some parts skip over things too much, and some parts are too slow. It is very much written in HER voice, though, so that does make many of these things pretty forgivable. Perhaps my expectation are a little bit high... but even with her limited education, she is a remarkably smart woman and a talented writer, and so I feel like the book could have been better. Yes, it is a memoir, but it is still a published book (and surely it was expected to be a best seller), and I think it reads a little like a first draft.

***** Jaycee Dugard's memoir of her life and her kidnapping, her torture, abuse and 18 year captivity, is important on so many levels. At one level, this is a young woman's attempt to tell the details of her story and to regain her voice and her power. She is grateful to be alive, to be safe, and to have her daughters, her mom, her sister. Her story in its entirety--the actual details--go far beyond Diane Sawyer's two hour ABC news special, so if you've watched that (as I did), there is much, much more here. And again, the details are what add depth and so poignantly reveal how Jaycee FELT in the different circumstances she found herself in, all of which she had no or little control over. She learned how to survive and how to live as meaningful a life as possible (although this was very hard with rape, neglect, and abuse of all sorts). She did it, though, and has triumphed--with the help of many people, good therapists, and experiences such as equine therapy. All of this is described in the book. Jaycee describes her daily concerns, her profound loneliness, and how she longed for things like a toothbrush, a bath, a toilet, to see the outdoors. She describes how her captor bonded her to to him, with him even trying to give her torture meaning and purpose by telling her it saved him from doing things like that to other little girls. And how great a "sex slave" she was. Her abuser's horrible "crank runs" --long days of her enduring various types of rape while her abuser was high and sleepless on crank. How after her baby was born, her abuser prayed that he'd never "hurt his child", which she knew meant "rape his child". Despite all of this horror, Jaycee's beautiful spirit shines through. So this is a hard book, and a book not for children because of all of the graphic details, but an important book for everyone else to read. None of the sexual details are gratuitous, but helpful and moving in understanding how a young girl saw her torment. And at another level, this is a tale of hope and inspiration, a tale of Jaycee's tenacious spirit and how she survived. It can provide inspiration to all of us who deal on a daily basis with challenges and trials, probably none anywhere near as terrible as Jaycee's. Her spirit and will to survive are admirable and so worth reading about. She wants to inspire people and to encourage them to have hope in difficult circumstances. And at yet another level, I hope that this memoir leads to changes in how the criminal justice system monitors sex offenders. So much needs to be reformed. I hope that this book, and those of us who read it, will help to facilitate and even demand needed change. Lastly, Jaycee wants to inspire people to speak up and take action when they suspect, intuit, guess--that something may be wrong. It was two women officers who ended Jaycee's captivity--two women who trusted their intuition that something was "off" after seeing her and then acted to investigate and follow through. The author's trust and hope, though betrayed again and again, still live on. This is a fascinating and riveting read about the human spirit, a book you'll have a hard time putting down. It is told in the present tense, so that you feel as though you're there with Jaycee. The book is organized into chapters in chronological order; at the end of each chapter she writes her reflections now that she is safe as an adult. In the Kindle edition, there are black and white pictures of Jaycee and pictures of her journal pages, not just the text of the hardcover. Highly recommended. *****

When I first read the news of Jaycee Dugard's remarkable liberation from her eighteen year captivity, several things went through my mind. I was happy for her and her family, but it was a bittersweet joy as I was left wondering about the long-term effects such an ordeal would have on all the innocent parties involved. I'm probably not the only one who considered whether or not Jaycee had been broken by nearly two decades of suffering at the hands of a maniacal, self-absorbed madman. I'd later receive my answer, first via Jaycee's ABC News interview with Diane Sawyer, then in her memoir; A Stolen Life. In some ways I feel A Stolen Life is Jaycee's valiant stand against the diabolical oppressor who controlled her life since childhood. It is mentioned in her memoir that he didn't approve of her writing things down, so her brave decision to pen this book is poetic justice and a testament to the integrity of her spirit. With her words, she destroys the smoke and mirrors he's used to deceive so many people for far too long. Some excerpts make it obvious that the words were emanating from the innocent soul of a young girl whose interests and hobbies mirrored some of my youthful aspirations. Yet other passages contrast her dream-filled entries with seemingly endless dark clouds of injustice. I've seen other reviews referring to Jaycee's repeated entries about the various pets she kept while in captivity as `redundant' and `unimportant', but on the contrary I believe her furry companions were an important escapism. Caring for pets was the final attachment Jaycee had left of her identity, especially since she was robbed of her own name, among many other things. Having pets gave her some sense of normalcy and I believe it helped preserve her resilience during her eighteen years in hell. At times, Jaycee's story was very difficult to read due to the unflinching recounting of the nauseating atrocities Jaycee had to endure. I found myself shedding tears several times while reading of her ordeal. Not only was she held prisoner and forced to learn about life and sexuality through the skewed perception of her vile rapist, but she was forced to give birth--without proper medical care--to two children fathered by him. Still, I reminded myself that though I had the freedom to turn away at anytime, Jaycee wasn't granted such merciful luxury. Remarkably, Jaycee managed to keep it all together. She is a true survivor in every sense of the word. Though her mind and body were under tyrannous control, her spirit remained unbroken and determined to protect what she held most dear--her children. The payoff is that there is a happy end to this otherwise tragic story. Upon completing the final page I was left inspired. Even in the midst of darkness, Jaycee was able to find strength and love and used them as a means to survive inconceivable horror and despair. As some readers have pointed out, the book is often written in simplistic language and is somewhat choppy and rushed in places, but in all fairness, I think the author did well considering her level of education at the time it was written. A Stolen Life may not be for the squeamish, but it's an intriguing glimpse into the heart, mind and soul of an inspiring survivor who is determined to not only heal herself and her family, but also others who have suffered the pain of abduction.

Bellissimo libro...Lo consiglio a tutti coloro che amano delle storie vere.

It's a great read but very sad....

A good read of survival. Clearly the kidnappers had mental problems but that is no excuse for what they did to Jaycee.

I'm not really into the 'woe is me' and 'I had a terrible childhood' type books. But this is different. I was fascinated by the story since I heard about it 2 years ago, and was looking forward to reading this book, as it was written by Jaycee herself, and not some ghostwriter. I wasn't really prepared for the story she told. I won't go into the background of the story, that's well documented, and if you are reading this, you wil probably know the background anyway. The first half of the book tells of Jaycee's early years in captivity, and the horrendous sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her captor. It really is shocking what she went through, and more than once when reading these accounts, I had to put the book down and do something different for a while. The second half of the book, after her children are born, is more to do with her having to accept the way things are and looking after her daughters, but it is still hard to read somethimes, especially her journal entries with her thoughts of home and her family. The fact that Jaycee has had the courage to write this is remarkable in itself, that she did so in her own words is even more so. I would imagine, though, that it had a cathartic effect for her, being able to write it all down. I would say that the only criticism I have is that there is not much detail of the psychological abuse and brainwashing that she must have gone through. I say this because there are times, several times in fact, when it would have been possible for her to alert others as to who she was, but she chose not to. This could only be because of what that monster did to her. Trying to collate 18 years of torture into just 268 pages means there is still a lot left unsaid. Would this have been a more coherent, better written book if it had been written a few years from now? Maybe, but it wouldn't be the same story. This is how it was, and writing it from the vantage point of the future would inevitabley smooth the edges and it doesn't deserve that softening. This is a remarkable, horrific, and terribly moving story. It's not for the faint-hearted. when you finish the final page, you will hug your children if you have them. Jaycee's story will stay with you long after the book is finsihed. Jaycee is an incredibly brave woman. I hope she and her family can find some peace and comfort in the years ahead. Read it, and thank your lucky stars. God bless you, Jaycee.

Kann die Geschichte/ das Buch sehr empfehlen! Ist auch gut verarbeitet und hat eine gute Qualität