Yesterday, I purchased Jaycee Dugard’s memoir, A Stolen Life for my Nook. I could not. put. it. down. If you remember, Jaycee was the girl who was kidnapped in 1991 and held captive for 18 years before being discovered and released from the hold of her captors.
This book was incredibly difficult to read at times, especially early on where Jaycee describes her abuse in detail as a child. As the memoir progresses though, her story becomes more about how much of an emotional and mental toll captivity has taken on her.
I found the book to be fascinating, frustrating, sad and incredibly moving. Jaycee’s writing style is simple and straightforward, where she writes from the perspective of whatever age she is during that point in the memoir. It is easy to get lost in her writing, as it is so heartbreakingly real. The format of the book intersperses present-day Jaycee’s reflections on what happened to her in each section, which quenched my thirst for further explanation of how each event impacted her life in the long-term.
The most fascinating part of this memoir was just how stunted Jaycee’s growth as a woman was. Here is a girl whose entire adolescence was spent with decisions being made for her, without any independence or any voice while raising two daughters, and listening to the increasingly insane rants of a selfish, awful man. Jaycee really struggles to find a sense of self throughout the book–especially when she reaches her twenties and feels that she never got the chance to “grow up” and still feels like the 11 year-old girl who was taken so many years ago. She had many opportunities to reach out to someone in her later years as a captive, yet never did since she was so scared and confused about how the real world worked. It is horribly sad to imagine just how much a person has to be mentally abused for them to never attempt to run away from the horrible situation they find themselves in.
All in all, I recommend this book to those who can stomach the more terrible scenes. When I picked it up, I was mostly morbidly curious, but as I put it down, my mind was full of admiration and respect for this woman who endured so much yet has such a positive outlook on life. It also made me really reflect on how important it is for adolescents to find their own way, to make mistakes and decisions for themselves because if they are being constantly controlled, they become paralyzed with fear at a later stage in life. Of course, Jaycee’s case is an extreme example, but thought-provoking nonetheless.
Would you ever want to read about this woman’s life as a captive or do you prefer to steer clear from the morbidity of it all?
Mandy Reply:
July 28th, 2011 at 11:20 am
Heather, I read Room at the beginning of the year, and the book still haunts me! I thought the point of view was so interesting coming from the 5-year-old.
I absolutely know what you mean about wanting to know more about her children. I kept thinking the same thing until I got to the end of the book, where she debates whether or not to even go out in public with her kids for fear that they would be associated with her. I think that she held back about her kids because she feels incredibly strongly about protecting their privacy. Also, maybe she felt that theirs isn’t her story to tell? Not sure about that one, but it has been something I’ve thought about as well.
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