Publisher: St. Martins Press
Release Date: October 7, 2013
Number of Pages: 320
Book Format: Hardcover
Synopsis: For the first time, ten years after her abduction from her Salt Lake City bedroom, Elizabeth Smart reveals how she survived and the secret to forging a new life in the wake of a brutal crime
On June 5, 2002, fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart, the daughter of a close-knit Mormon family, was taken from her home in the middle of the night by religious fanatic, Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee. She was kept chained, dressed in disguise, repeatedly raped, and told she and her family would be killed if she tried to escape. After her rescue on March 12, 2003, she rejoined her family and worked to pick up the pieces of her life.
Now for the first time, in her memoir, MY STORY, she tells of the constant fear she endured every hour, her courageous determination to maintain hope, and how she devised a plan to manipulate her captors and convinced them to return to Utah, where she was rescued minutes after arriving. Smart explains how her faith helped her stay sane in the midst of a nightmare and how she found the strength to confront her captors at their trial and see that justice was served.
In the nine years after her rescue, Smart transformed from victim to advocate, traveling the country and working to educate, inspire and foster change. She has created a foundation to help prevent crimes against children and is a frequent public speaker. In 2012, she married Matthew Gilmour, whom she met doing mission work in Paris for her church, in a fairy tale wedding that made the cover of People magazine.
My Review:
I borrowed My Story by Elizabeth Smart from work and this is my honest review.
For those who do not know, Elizabeth Smart was taken from her home one summer night, and held in captivity for 9 months until the police finally spotted and rescued her. She was only 15 at the time, and being held by a grown man and his wife. Miraculously she kept herself alive long enough to be found and reunited with her family.
I previously watched the movie Elizabeth Smart Story, which was featured on lifetime so I was familiar with the story before picking up this book. But even without the movie the book was so interesting from the first page to the last, it was impossible to put down because staying in the story to find out what happens to Elizabeth was imperative. One of the great things about this book was Smart’s way of showing us everything that happened to her through her eyes rather than just telling a story. Throughout the whole book, I often found myself picturing the different camps she was held in clearly which is a sign of really impressive writing.
The book was so suspenseful when it came to Elizabeth being rescued. Every chapter I was like come on there has to be someone close by that is going to find her. There were so many times that people were so close to her that if they would have looked a little harder they would have found her, and that was frustrating for me as the reader. I cannot imagine how frustrating it was for Elizabeth herself.
Elizabeth Smart, after reading this book is one of the bravest human beings I know of. I say this because she went through 9 months of torture that a young girl should not have to go through and she still took the time to sit down and tell people her story. For anyone I think that would be too hard to relive everything you suffered through to write a book but Smart did that and I applaud her.
For those who do not know, Elizabeth Smart was taken from her home one summer night, and held in captivity for 9 months until the police finally spotted and rescued her. She was only 15 at the time, and being held by a grown man and his wife. Miraculously she kept herself alive long enough to be found and reunited with her family.
I previously watched the movie Elizabeth Smart Story, which was featured on lifetime so I was familiar with the story before picking up this book. But even without the movie the book was so interesting from the first page to the last, it was impossible to put down because staying in the story to find out what happens to Elizabeth was imperative. One of the great things about this book was Smart’s way of showing us everything that happened to her through her eyes rather than just telling a story. Throughout the whole book, I often found myself picturing the different camps she was held in clearly which is a sign of really impressive writing.
The book was so suspenseful when it came to Elizabeth being rescued. Every chapter I was like come on there has to be someone close by that is going to find her. There were so many times that people were so close to her that if they would have looked a little harder they would have found her, and that was frustrating for me as the reader. I cannot imagine how frustrating it was for Elizabeth herself.
Elizabeth Smart, after reading this book is one of the bravest human beings I know of. I say this because she went through 9 months of torture that a young girl should not have to go through and she still took the time to sit down and tell people her story. For anyone I think that would be too hard to relive everything you suffered through to write a book but Smart did that and I applaud her.
I've seen a lot of her interviews and I really believe that she's a survivor. Looking at her, although she's gone through a horrific time in her life, she looks at peace. Fantastic review!
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