A Stolen Life: A Memoir

Jaycee Dugard is one of my sheroes. She exhibits an inner strength and courage that is not found in many people, of any age, and she had to develop that strength when she was so heartbreakingly young.

Everyone knows the basic details of Jaycee's story - she was kidnapped by a convicted rapist and his wife, brutally raped and abused for years, kept in a backyard compound where she bore two children and lived for 18 years, before some alert college campus cops figured out something was "off" about the two young girls that Phillip Garrido had brought with him to pitch his ?book? ?presentation?

This is her sharing from the inside, as best she could remember, in many places with scraps of her own journals. What she felt, what she remembers, show more how she felt about it, later, after she recovered her name and life.

It's raw, and very little editing was done. So for some people, that's a stumbling point. Knowing that Jaycee's education stopped at fifth grade, I think she did an amazing job.

As she did with her daughters, who clearly she loves very much. There's an innate conflict there, because no matter how she feels about him, her rapist and kidnapper was their father. Someday (if they haven't already), her daughters may read what she had to say about him, about them and their life in that tented "compound."

18 years - I am not sure I would be still alive or sane after 18 years. She could so easily have taken her own life, or done/said the wrong thing and "made" that madman kill her, but she survived, and found pleasure in small things, in pets and her daughters and fought fiercely for their education, looking up lessons on the Internet and printing out worksheets.

And if you wonder why she (or anyone) in a situation of domestic violence or captivity didn't run on the rare occasions she was allowed out in public, didn't try to send a message through the Internet, this memoir will help you understand.

Emotionally it's a very difficult read in many places, but inspiring, too. If nothing else, I urge you to buy a copy to support Jaycee, whether you ever read it or not. show less

This book is heartbreaking, uplifting, disturbing and shocking all at the same time. I was gripped by the book from the outset. Some people have complained that it was very muddled in its writing style and confusing as a result. Well for someone who was taken away from school and all social interaction at the age of eleven I was not surprising and perhaps the story benefitted from this as it truely felt like we were reading her thoughts on her experiences and not some ghost written account. For all the awful experiences detailed in the book I found the parts towards the end which dealt with her adjustment to life outside captivity the most moving. She highlight the difficulties of doing normal things stuff we take for granted and also show more the value in the simple things that we usually take for granted like eating a proper dinner around a table with her children(something denied her during captivity). I finished the book hoping that she and her family have finally been allowed to live the 'normal' family life that Jaycee must have craved so much during those years in captiviy. Well worth the read. show less

Jaycee Dugard’s account of her abduction and imprisonment is a testimony to the resilience and survival of the human spirit and soul. At age eleven, tasered into unconsciousness and kidnapped by a sexual predator and his wife, Jaycee is kept under his control for eighteen years. Jaycee lived a life of unthinkable horror, deprived of the many of the basic necessities of life and abused daily in horrible ways. Dependent on her kidnappers, she is not only physically abused but also mentally and emotionally, so much so that when she is about to be rescued, she really cannot say who she is or what has happened to her. This gripping tale is a difficult one to read, but Jaycee makes it clear that she is a survivor first and foremost. We may show more see her as a victim, but she doesn’t present herself that way. Good has come to her through the two daughters she bore while in captivity. She is thankful to be reunited with the mother she has always loved and she will not let the horror she lived through taint the life she has now. And that she had the courage to tell her story to the world illustrates her mettle and strength of mind and character. show less

I could never recommend this book to anyone because it was so difficult to read, but it was truly an incredible book. I had nightmares after the first half, the brutal, honest account in graphic detail (and I even had the feeling she left some of the most horrific parts out) of exactly what happened to her after she was kidnapped by a psychopathic pedophile. Although she apologized in the beginning for the book's non-linearity, this was what, to me, was most powerful - it was written as it must have been felt, experienced, by the girl of eleven.

I read it because when I heard the story on the news, I wanted to understand the psychological dynamics that led to her not trying to escape during all those years. The book, amazingly, answered show more that question. show less

Jaycee Dugard's book is going to be very hard to read for anyone that has any sense of empathy towards other people. If you know anything at all about her story, you'll know why that's the case. Everything from the writing style to the way that events are recalled will very much put you in the place of that little eleven year-old girl, who will then take you with her as she grows up in captivity, gives birth to and raises two daughters, and then finally regains her freedom after eighteen very long years. Sometimes the journey is told briefly, and sometimes in heartbreaking detail, but it is always painful to read regardless.

You can definitely tell as you read that the book is written by Jaycee Dugard herself. Though she continued to show more read and attempt to educate herself after her kidnapping, it doesn't change the fact that her formal education stopped at the fifth grade. You can also tell that she had very little in those eighteen years, meaning that a very large part of her life, and among the very few things that she could gain any sense of happiness from, were her various pets and other simple things. So, you shouldn't start reading the book expecting a literary masterpiece full of excitement and adventure. You need to take it for what it is. She wrote the truth of what her life was, and it would be foolish to expect anything more.

I came away from this book, and from the TV interview, with a great respect for Jaycee's courage and determination. Despite everything, she not only survived, but is becoming ever stronger, and now serves as an inspiration for abuse victims everywhere to not be afraid to come forward and speak out. She is also an absolutely devoted and loving mother to her daughters, though they came from the most terrible of circumstances. She deserves our support and our respect, and I can only hope that those who do discover the identities of her and especially her daughters will continue to respect their privacy and treat them the same as they did before. It's the very least any of us could do in such a situation, and perhaps would let Jaycee put her fears to rest and know that her daughters will be allowed to live as normal of a life as possible. I certainly wish them all the best now and in their future. It certainly looks far more hopeful than their past. show less

This a book that kept me on the edge of my seat. At times there were tears pouring down my face as I read what Jaycee Duggard had to endure. At other times I just had to put it down a walk away because I felt such pain for her. I think part of it for me is that I have a daughter who just turned 12 and Jaycee was 11 when she was taken. I can picture my daughter in mind and makes it me so upset. I definitely hugged my daughter harder after reading Jaycee's story. I am always trying to balance protecting her from predators while giving her the freedom to develop into the person she is meant to be. This book has sparked conversations about being aware of your surroundings and trusting your inner instinct of danger to protect yourself. As show more someone who has been kidnapped it was interesting to read Jaycee personally approaches protecting her own daughters from the dangers of the world.

On the day Jaycee was taken, she was a young girl who was still playing with Barbies. She had no concept of what sex was nor should she have. What she was subjected to by her kidnappers, Phillip and nancy Garrido was pure hell. She went from being a cherished daughter and turned into a object for Phillip Garrido to play out his twisted fantasies on. Nancy and Phillip are two of the sickest people on the planet and deserve every bit of the public hate and scorn that has been heaped upon Casey Anthony. Some things that will stay with me from this story is how the Garridos used animals against Jaycee. They knew that she loved animals so much so they would do twisted things like give her a pet only to remove it suddenly after she had become attached to the animal. I don't how Jaycee endured all that she did. The mental and physical torture was incredible. Giving birth at the age of 13 with no pain killers or hospital care is beyond my comprehension and she gave birth twice. Not only that but she seems to be an extraordinary mother. I had tears pouring down when I read how she was not able to say her name to the police officers when she finally had law enforcements attention. She had not spoken her name in 19 years so she had to write it on a piece of paper. Now she has taken her name and her life back and the Garridos cannot hurt her or anyone she loves any more. Her powerful victim impact statement is on Wikipedia and it showcases the courage that enabled her to endure all that she has. Many people let Jaycee Duggard down, her step father, law enforcement, and most of all the Garridos, yet she carries no hate in her heart. It's a powerful lesson that needs to be read by everyone who has endured suffering

If there are any flaws in this book it is in the narrative. The actual book itself is somewhat disjointed. There are times when she talks about the past and then will jump to the present or insert a reflection. It's almost as if she is talking talking to you and will suddenly remember something else she wanted to tell you. There is also a long stretch where she includes the journal of the day to day activities of one of the cats, Eclipse. She explains that her memories are disjointed like the book and that it will probably take years for her to straighten everything out in even her own mind. Whatever problems the book has in editing are overcome by the power of her story. I read that the state of California is giving her 20 million in a settlement to make reparations for the lapse of the parole board in not doing a proper of checking up on Phillip Garrido. When she recounts some of the things that man has said you wonder why he was not locked up for life long before he ever met Jaycee Duggard. Even though the money is no compensation for what she endured I hope it enables to live a long and happy life with her daughters. I am sure her story will continue to inspire other victims of tragedies as well as the countless other parents of missing children who will never give up searching for their own ending. show less

wow, kidnapped at 11; raped, traumatized, subjugated, confined, and twice impregnated and then thrust into freedom at 29... Jaycee's heroic survival philosophical/intellectual development by dint of determination tells us something huge about this individual now positioned to tell us much about the scope of possibilities in the human spirit.

she compiles, tentatively and painfully, of her harrowing life, privation, cruelty endured from recollection and journals. Through this experience she heaped love and hope on cats, the moon, and eventually her two daughters lied into masquerading as her sisters.

I found her authentic and unornamented telling of her hellish journey potently affecting and an easy read.