A Stolen Life Book Review
Posted on May 7, 2014 by Steve Dominguez in Entertainment
Chelyah Miller
Chronicle Reporter
A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard is the heart-shattering tale of how she was kidnapped on her way to school when she was 11. She experienced things no one should be forced to go through as a child, from being raped by Phillip Garrido to giving birth to her first child at 14. She was forced to change her name and her children had to call her their sister so that Garrido’s wife would feel included.
Even before she was kidnapped, Jaycee didn’t have the best life. Her stepfather verbally abused her and she didn’t have many friends. After being kidnapped, she was forced to do unspeakable things, give birth to two children and pretend to be somebody she wasn’t for 18 years. Her association with people was limited to the rare times she was allowed out to go shopping or to the store and even then she wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone. When Phillip’s mother moved in she was treated as an enemy by her although she was not there by choice.
Phillip believed that everything was “controlled by the angels” and said this whenever Jaycee attempted to voice her choices or her beliefs. He constantly told her that he would be able to give her children a good life if any of his businesses took off and even though they did horrible things to her she believed that they would keep their promises. She was made to feel like everything was her fault, and if something bad happened, it’s because she was angry or upset.
The book describes how she felt then, how she feels about it now and how she is recovering from all of the abuse and suffering she went through. Throughout this story you will feel enraged that someone could do these things to a mere child but feel relieved that she survived this tragedy. It is a story that will make you cry until you think that you can’t cry anymore but it’s a book that is worth reading.
