Book Review: “A Stolen Life” by Jaycee Dugard

A Stolen Life: A Memoir was written by survivor, Jaycee Dugard, the woman who was kidnapped at the age of eleven years old and kept until her rescue eighteen years later. As I was reading this book, I was flabbergasted by that man who had the audacity to kidnap her and hold her under his control for as long as he did. He was truly twisted and evil for what he had done to this young bright girl. In the end, of course, she was able to triumph over all that he did and break free of all she had endured for the eighteen years that he had held her captive.

In her book, Jaycee Dugard details what happened to her when she was eleven years old. She tells us that what she was doing before her abduction, during, and after. On that morning of her abduction, she was not happy with her mother for not telling her good bye and that she was in her own little world, on the way to school when she was abducted. She remembers a car pulling along side her and someone getting out, hitting her with some jolt of electricity and being unable to move as she was put into the car. She was not sure where she was taken at the time but would discover later that she had been taken to his home. She would call this place “home” for the next eighteen years. She endured quite a lot in the eighteen years that she was held captive, but in all that time, she never forgot her family.

Jaycee would endure sexual assault at the age of eleven years old; not long after her capture and that would continue for many years. He would tell her things to make her do what he wanted and keep her under his control. In time, she would totally rely on him for everything that she needed and was told that the outside would was a terrible place. He was the only one that she could trust and he would take care of her. He had a wife, but from what I read, she was under his influence and did what he told her to do. At the tender age of thirteen, she would become pregnant and give birth to a baby girl. All she had was her two captors and they were the ones to help her. He was the one to name the baby and all through the book she would only use letters for the two girls that she had. She said she wanted to protect her daughters and keep them safe. When she was fifteen, she became pregnant again and gave birth to another baby girl.

She would go on, sometimes in detail, about her life, living with him and having to endure his mental, physical, sexual, and verbal abuses. She was totally under his thumb and when they would venture out in the later years, when no one would notice her, she would be afraid to do anything. She wanted to run, but due to her conditioning, she was to afraid to do anything and felt like she was invisible. So it would come as a total and complete surprise when she was rescued. She was surprised by how it came about but all she could think about was that she was finally going to see her mother. Her mother and Jaycee were reunited and it was one of those tearful reunions. She has also been reunited with her baby sister, whom she had not seen since she was a baby, her aunt and some of her best friends that she had when she was young.

After her return, she has been subjected to therapy to help her reintegrate into society and to help her overcome what she went through. This woman is one amazing woman to have gone through what she went through and remained a strong determined woman. She has overcome what happened to her, forgave him, and is determined not to let him have a hold over her. He is now in jail for the rest of his life, as his wife, and they will never hurt another child again. Jaycee, you are one incredible woman and I am glad that you are home with your love ones.


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