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Loading... One Day Closer: A Mother's Quest to Bring Her Kidnapped Daughter Home14 | 1 | 1,447,842 |
(3.83) | 6 | An instant national bestseller and "a beautiful story of what love can do to conquer the impossible" (Jann Arden). On the day my daughter was kidnapped by outlaws in Somalia, my life split into two parts: Before and After. This is the story of both parts, and of how I fought to bring my daughter home. On August 23, 2008, Amanda Lindhout, Lorinda Stewart's daughter, is kidnapped outside of Mogadishu in Somalia . The kidnappers' demand is simple: pay $2.5 million or Amanda will be killed. For the next 460 days, Lorinda does everything in her power--and beyond--to get her daughter back alive. This brave, small-town mother with no experience in hostage negotiations is called upon by the RCMP to be the lead communicator with Adam, the Somali who identifies himself as the English-speaking negotiator for Amanda's kidnappers. In a secret "war room" in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Lorinda joins forces with federal officers and begins to answer calls from Adam, establishing a fragile rapport of trust with the man who holds her daughter's fate in his hands. She learns how to demand POLs--proofs of life--from Amanda's hostage takers and even how to react to "bad calls"--when she is forced to listen to her daughter's desperate cries for help, fearing she is being abused and tortured. What's supposed to be a short negotiation stretches on, and weeks become months. Lorinda finds herself increasingly on her own as negotiations break down. But she never gives up hope, even as the conversations become more traumatic. Faced with the terrible possibility of her daughter's death, she decides to take control, bringing in private hostage negotiators and fundraising ransom money from donors. But will it be enough? This is the true story of one woman's heroic perseverance in the face of despair, and of the hope and healing to be found beyond trauma. It is also, in the end, a tribute to the extraordinary power of a mother's love. … (more) |
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To my mother and my five children -- Mark, Amanda, Nathaniel, Janet and Tiffany -- who have taught me that love has no limits and ultimately it is always love that brings us home. You are my heart. Janet, although you left this physical world while I was writing this book, love is eternal. | |
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On the day my daughter, Amanda Lindhout was kidnapped by outlaws in Somalia -- August 23, 2008 -- my life split into tow parts: Before and After. | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources. Wikipedia in EnglishNone ▾Book descriptions An instant national bestseller and "a beautiful story of what love can do to conquer the impossible" (Jann Arden). On the day my daughter was kidnapped by outlaws in Somalia, my life split into two parts: Before and After. This is the story of both parts, and of how I fought to bring my daughter home. On August 23, 2008, Amanda Lindhout, Lorinda Stewart's daughter, is kidnapped outside of Mogadishu in Somalia. The kidnappers' demand is simple: pay $2.5 million or Amanda will be killed. For the next 460 days, Lorinda does everything in her power--and beyond--to get her daughter back alive. This brave, small-town mother with no experience in hostage negotiations is called upon by the RCMP to be the lead communicator with Adam, the Somali who identifies himself as the English-speaking negotiator for Amanda's kidnappers. In a secret "war room" in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Lorinda joins forces with federal officers and begins to answer calls from Adam, establishing a fragile rapport of trust with the man who holds her daughter's fate in his hands. She learns how to demand POLs--proofs of life--from Amanda's hostage takers and even how to react to "bad calls"--when she is forced to listen to her daughter's desperate cries for help, fearing she is being abused and tortured. What's supposed to be a short negotiation stretches on, and weeks become months. Lorinda finds herself increasingly on her own as negotiations break down. But she never gives up hope, even as the conversations become more traumatic. Faced with the terrible possibility of her daughter's death, she decides to take control, bringing in private hostage negotiators and fundraising ransom money from donors. But will it be enough? This is the true story of one woman's heroic perseverance in the face of despair, and of the hope and healing to be found beyond trauma. It is also, in the end, a tribute to the extraordinary power of a mother's love. ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description
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While this would be a harrowing experience for any parent, Ms. Stewart's challenges were multiplied as she acted as the chief negotiator with the hostage takers for the release. She was well trained by the RCMP, but the stress on her was unimaginable as she had to maintain rapport with the kidnapper's representative and maintain firm in her messages about money, even while hearing her daughter being tortured. It is an honest account in terms of Ms. Stewart talking about times when her behaviour was less than perfect, but she does manage to maintain faith and optimism throughout....I'm not sure I could have done so.
This is well worth reading. While Amanda's book provides the best portrayal of the kidnapping and her story of life as a hostage is so well told, the story of the family coping with a tragedy is one that I could, in many way, relate to more as a mother myself. ( )