🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
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.
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.
I have been wanting to read Elizabeth's book for quite some time. A lot of people have told me that this book meant so much to them and that it was so inspirational. I would have to agree with this opinion. I decided to listen to the audio book because I have found that memoirs are best digested by listening to the author read their own book. It was interesting to hear her tone throughout and understand the emotions she must have felt reliving the story while talking about it.
My Story is a book about strength to persevere and what it takes to survive when you feel like all hope is lost. There were moments where the book was difficult to listen to even though she did not include the graphic details of the rape and other activities that she was forced to participate in. It is clear that Elizabeth has a lot of courage and strength to survive such an ordeal. I thought that it was interesting to hear from someone that had survived trauma like she had and to come out the other side stronger and able to use her story to help others to feel less alone in their trials.
There are some other points that I feel are necessary to make that have less to do with the book and more to do with some of the reviews that I have seen. I've seen a lot of reviews of this book where people complain about how the writing/voice appears young, that she clearly suffered from Stockholm syndrome, she should have spoken up/tried to run away, and that she was clearly out of her mind to think that God would bring her water. I think that these comments are shameful. It is fine if you don't like a book and want to give it a low rating. I have done this myself a time or two but I think that some of the comments in reviews for this particular book are terrible! This happened to her when she was young so why wouldn't her book have the same young voice to it?! How can anyone judge someone when you haven't been in the situation that they were in. Why would you say things about their faith? It just boggles the mind!
Anyway, I thought that Elizabeth's book is a good one to read if someone has been through a trauma or just wants to understand what can go through someone's mind when they are put in that type of situation.
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