Thursday, September 8, 2011

A Stolen Life: A Memoir, by Jaycee Lee Dugard


My biggest fear is my kids being kidnapped.  I can handle them dying even more than that.  (I'd really like to not ever have to test that theory...)

Wow.  This book was disturbing.  It was emotional.  It was... disturbing.  Unbelievable. 

Jaycee was kidnapped in 1991, when she was 11.  Her kidnapper, Phillip Garrido, kept her for over 18 years.  He fathered her two children.  He was married.  His mother was on the same property.

She not only survived, but she managed to do it well.  What I can't believe is how she was taken on outings, met Phillip's parole officers, had access to the internet... and she still wasn't found until she was.  That she was kept in the backyard and no one even thought to look back there is just unfathomable.  This man was sick.  Very messed in the head.  He had her brainwashed, controlled, scared.  She actually felt the need to protect him, to keep him happy, to rely on him.  His wife was in on this.  That, in itself is wrong in so many ways.

She was rescued, reconnected with her family, and is doing so amazingly well... her story is not one I would ever wish on anyone, but her attitude should be manufactured and sold in jars.

I love reading memoirs.  The real stories.  This one was hard.  She was able to recount so many things from those horrid years.  I hope she can continue in her positive outlook on life and build something wonderful for herself and her girls.

3 comments:

Emily said...

I watched her interview on TV when it was on. I agree, very disturbing. I always think,"That won't happen to my kids"... because it was so unusual and probably pretty rare, but then i think,"But, it happened to her." Ugh I can't even stand to think about it. It's pretty much incomprehensible, what happened to her. And can you imagine being her mother? And what a miracle that Jaycee seems to be doing "alright" now...amazing!

Jami said...

I looked it up on Wikipedia, too, because I wanted to see what that loser looked like. It said that her stepfather saw it happen (her abduction) and made chase on his bike until he lost them. Also, someone called in with a tip about seeing the van that was described but no one ever looked into it. AND, a neighbor even talked to Jaycee through the fence of this backyard prison, she told this neighbor what her name was and still nothing was done. Scary stuff. She won her $20 million lawsuit against the people who kept dropping the ball.

Espana said...

" A Stolen Life" is horrifying at times to read, but also offers hope. Jaycee Dugard is an amazing woman who simply tells the story of her abduction and her journey to become a survivor of eighteen years of abuse in captivity. This book shows us how we can rise above almost anything.