A Stolen Life: A Memoir
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"This little memoir...was written plainly and simply by Dugard herself, without the help of a ghostwriter. And in that, it is powerful beyond its voyeurism…reading the experience in her own words is a revelation."—The Washington Post
“Dugard’s inspirational story…is a firsthand testament to the resilience of the human spirit.”—USA Today
“Dugard’s inspirational story…is a firsthand testament to the resilience of the human spirit.”—USA Today
About the Author
Jaycee Dugard lives with her two daughters in California. Learn more about Jaycee Dugard and her JAYC Foundation at TheJAYCFoundation.org.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
559 of 580 people found the following review helpful
By
Amazon Customer
on July 12, 2011
Format: Kindle Edition
Verified Purchase
14 Comments
Sending feedback...
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.Read more ›
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.Read more ›
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854 of 901 people found the following review helpful
By
Amelia Williams
on July 12, 2011
Format: Hardcover
43 Comments
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The first thing you need to know about Jaycee Dugard's book, is it is indeed a very difficult thing to read. It is a beautifully written, pull no punches account of the 18 years she spent in captivity with a very sick man, Phillip Garrido.
In a note from the author at the beginning of the book, Dugard explains that she wrote the book to attempt to convey the overwhelming confusion she endured during her years in captivity and to begin to unravel the damage that was done to she and her family. She chronicles her experience with brutal honesty. She writes about missing her mother and worrying that she will never see her again. Her dependence upon her kidnapper grows the more he isolates her from the world. For long periods of time he was the only other human being that she saw.
Before I bought the book, I wished that Amazon would list the Table of Contents, so here it is for you:
Author's Note
Introduction
The Taking
Stolen
The Secret Backyard
Alone in a Strange Place
The First Time
First Kitty
The First "Run"
Nancy
Easter: Phillip on an Island
Christmas
Learning I Was Pregnant
Driving to a Trailer
Waiting for Baby
Taking Care of a Baby
Sarge
Second Baby
The Starting of Printing for Less
Birth of Second Baby
Raising the Girls in the Backyard
Nancy Becomes "Mom"
Pretending to Be a Family
Cats
Surviving
Discovery and Reunion
Firsts for Me
Milestones
The Difficult Parts of Life
Finding Old Friends
Therapeutic healing
Meeting with Nancy
Therapeutic Healing with a Twist
As you can tell from the Table of Contents, she spares no detail.Read more ›
In a note from the author at the beginning of the book, Dugard explains that she wrote the book to attempt to convey the overwhelming confusion she endured during her years in captivity and to begin to unravel the damage that was done to she and her family. She chronicles her experience with brutal honesty. She writes about missing her mother and worrying that she will never see her again. Her dependence upon her kidnapper grows the more he isolates her from the world. For long periods of time he was the only other human being that she saw.
Before I bought the book, I wished that Amazon would list the Table of Contents, so here it is for you:
Author's Note
Introduction
The Taking
Stolen
The Secret Backyard
Alone in a Strange Place
The First Time
First Kitty
The First "Run"
Nancy
Easter: Phillip on an Island
Christmas
Learning I Was Pregnant
Driving to a Trailer
Waiting for Baby
Taking Care of a Baby
Sarge
Second Baby
The Starting of Printing for Less
Birth of Second Baby
Raising the Girls in the Backyard
Nancy Becomes "Mom"
Pretending to Be a Family
Cats
Surviving
Discovery and Reunion
Firsts for Me
Milestones
The Difficult Parts of Life
Finding Old Friends
Therapeutic healing
Meeting with Nancy
Therapeutic Healing with a Twist
As you can tell from the Table of Contents, she spares no detail.Read more ›
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187 of 200 people found the following review helpful
By
Yertle the Turtle
on July 13, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Verified Purchase
2 Comments
Sending feedback...
This is a beautiful book.
What I have come to understand is that this is not a book about a kidnapping. This is a book about a spiritually gifted woman navigating her way through a life marked by deeply moving events. I am humbled by what I have read.
Ms Dugard is able to continue down a path of personal growth under the most constrained circumstances. The journal entries from her captivity, both as a child and later as an adult, reveal the amazingly positive energy she carries within her. She has the capacity for self-reflection at a young age, even though she is denied any personal autonomy. Later, she is able to build a semblance of a normal life for her children, home schooling them with her own curriculum despite only having a 5th grade education. She plants a garden, cares for her animals, even manages a business. All of this while enduring the constant abuse of a hyper-controlling, drug-addicted psychopath.
I am deeply inspired by her ability to keep pouring love out into the world despite being treated so horridly. Rather than turn away to some dark place, Ms Dugard performs a kind of spiritual judo, reflecting back love and compassion on the animals in her care, the children she's struggling to raise and the distant memory of her mother. She is able to resist the temptation to spew forth hatred upon the perpetrators of her abuse. Instead, she lets it go and moves on to a better place.
Frankly, I'm a bit ashamed that my initial interest in this book was based on sensationalist media coverage of the events surrounding her rescue. I was expecting to learn more about her captors and what kind of person would commit such a horrendous crime. After finishing the book, I've realized that don't care about them.Read more ›
What I have come to understand is that this is not a book about a kidnapping. This is a book about a spiritually gifted woman navigating her way through a life marked by deeply moving events. I am humbled by what I have read.
Ms Dugard is able to continue down a path of personal growth under the most constrained circumstances. The journal entries from her captivity, both as a child and later as an adult, reveal the amazingly positive energy she carries within her. She has the capacity for self-reflection at a young age, even though she is denied any personal autonomy. Later, she is able to build a semblance of a normal life for her children, home schooling them with her own curriculum despite only having a 5th grade education. She plants a garden, cares for her animals, even manages a business. All of this while enduring the constant abuse of a hyper-controlling, drug-addicted psychopath.
I am deeply inspired by her ability to keep pouring love out into the world despite being treated so horridly. Rather than turn away to some dark place, Ms Dugard performs a kind of spiritual judo, reflecting back love and compassion on the animals in her care, the children she's struggling to raise and the distant memory of her mother. She is able to resist the temptation to spew forth hatred upon the perpetrators of her abuse. Instead, she lets it go and moves on to a better place.
Frankly, I'm a bit ashamed that my initial interest in this book was based on sensationalist media coverage of the events surrounding her rescue. I was expecting to learn more about her captors and what kind of person would commit such a horrendous crime. After finishing the book, I've realized that don't care about them.Read more ›
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