Book info

• Title A Stolen Life
• Author Jaycee Dugard
• Year 2011
• Genre Memoir

On 10 June 1991, eleven-year-old Jaycee Dugard was abducted from a school bus stop within sight of her home in Tahoe, California. It was the last her family and friends saw of her for over eighteen years. On 26 August 2009, Dugard, her daughters, and Phillip Craig Garrido appeared in the office of her kidnapper's parole officer in California. Their unusual behaviour sparked an investigation that led to the positive identification of Jaycee Lee Dugard, living in a tent behind Garrido's home. During her time in captivity, at the age of fourteen and seventeen, she gave birth to two daughters, both fathered by Garrido. Dugard's memoir is written by the 30-year-old herself and covers the period from the time of her abduction in 1991 up until the present. In her stark, utterly honest and unflinching narrative, Jaycee opens up about what she experienced, including how she feels now, a year after being found.

Thoughts

A tough read this one. This is Jaycee’s story, told in her own words, of how she was abducted at age eleven, kept captive for many, many years, had two children, and eventually re-emerged to join the outside world. It’s a confusing jumble of notes and lists and stories, and as the author herself admits, the confusion is an accurate portrayal of how she felt going through it.

Whilst that confusion is obviously natural, justifiable and totally understandable, I do think perhaps the story would have been better told if it had been delayed a while. To help get thoughts straight. I don’t know.

Still, it is a fascinating and horrifying look at life in captivity, and I can only wish Jaycee, her family, and her foundation well for the future.

Rating: 3 / 5