Before I start, let me just say that I have at three posts to write within the next few days. Technically, it could be six, but I'm choosing not to review Patterson's Private Games, Private: #1 Suspect, or Kill Alex Cross. For one, it's been a few weeks since I've read them; secondly, they were the usual killer thrillers that Patterson is notorious for in the literary world. However, they were all entertaining, and I give a nod towards Private Games if suspense novels are your thing. It's set in 2012 London during the Olympics, and that upcoming event adds more to the story. Sadly, as much as I relish Alex Cross novels, his glory days as the protagonist in books such as Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls have seemingly passed. Without characters like Gary Soneji and Kyle Craig, he's just not as strong of a hero figure.
Okay, now on to Dugard's memoir.
Every few months I decide to pick up a biography. I did two in a row this time (the next one will be in the following post), and I pretty much wish I hadn't read this one. D-E-P-R-E-S-S-I-N-G. I think spelling it out in all caps should sound off bells and whistles and throw up red flags. It's not that I didn't know who or what this book was going to be about when I checked it out from the library; I remember the whole Dugard disappearance in the early 90s, even though I was 6 or 7 when it happened. I definitely remember when she resurfaced a few years ago.
But jeez, Dugard didn't pull any punches when she described what happened to her. I suppose that's the point of a memoir--to tell the truth. I just don't think I could (if it had happened to me) retell the rape scenes that occurred when I was eleven years old. Dugard reflects on each chapter personally; how she's stronger now and looking back it was so hard for her to deal with it. I don't disagree with the idea that it would have been hard, but I think that's all the more reason I wouldn't want to relive it. Maybe that's just me. It may be part of the healing process (hopefully one I'll never have to worry about) to write about it, but publicizing it just seems like an invasion of an already terrible private memory. Eh, maybe it's a way to show the world what a
The rape scenes lessen as Dugard ages; instead the story focuses more on her survival in the backyard with her two daughters. She teaches the girls how to read and write by setting up a school in the backyard. However, the girls know Jaycee as their "sister," as Phillip's wife, Nancy, is posing as their mother. Again, something else that is incredibly sad. You give birth to two girls. You raise them. You teach them all that you can, despite not having past a fifth grade education yourself. However, they don't even know you as their mother. A Stolen Life is such an apt title for this book.
The book ends after Dugard finds herself confessing to who she really is when Garrido runs in with his parole officer eighteen years after the abduction. She is in therapy and has started her own reunification support and therapy foundation (JAYC) for those who have suffered from the loss of abducted family members or for those who are struggling with the reunification process. Sales from the book support the cause.
If you want to read this, go ahead. It's not an easy read, and (like I said) I wouldn't pick it up again. It was difficult to say the least, although it was quick to get through. I'll be a little more hesitant next time before checking out a book on someone who was a front page news sob story.
Target age range: Adults
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