Biography & Autobiography
Macmillan
October 7, 2013
320
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:
When I was 12 years old I heard a story on the news about this girl from Utah being abducted from her bedroom. When my family went on a trip to Zions in southern Utah I remember seeing all the flyers about her, even then I had a feeling she would be found. It was a case that I followed very closely until her return. I remember when she was returned and how happy I was for her to be home. Back then I didn’t quite understand what she went through because of how young and innocent I was. I had no idea that she was raped every single day, or that evil man made her his wife and manipulated her for 9 months. This book was an eye opener to the realities of her captivity.
Elizabeth is brutally honest in this memoir of her time living with her captors. I mean writing and talking about this could not have been easy. So I admire her for her courage and determination to simply survive. What she went through was unthinkable. During her captivity, she had a positive attitude. She could have played the victim and dwell on the negative but she made herself look for things to be thankful for each day and she kept the faith.
I was really impressed with Elizabeth’s mother and her advice to her when she returned home. She stated, “Elizabeth, what this man has done is terrible. There aren’t any words that are strong enough to describe how wicked and evil he is! He has taken nine months of your life that you will never get back again. But the best punishment you could ever give him is to be happy. To move forward with your life. To do exactly what you want. Because, yes, this will probably go to trial and some kind of sentencing will be given to him and that wicked woman. But even if that’s true, you may never feel like justice has been served or that true restitution has been made. But you don’t need to worry about that. At the end of the day, God is our ultimate judge. He will make up to you every pain and loss that you have suffered. And if it turns out that these wicked people are not punished here on Earth, it doesn’t matter. His punishments are just. You don’t ever have to worry. You don’t ever have to even think about them again. …You be happy, Elizabeth. Just be happy. If you go and feel sorry for yourself, or if you dwell on what has happened, if you hold on to your pain, that is allowing him to steal more of your life away. So don’t you do that! Don’t you let him! There is no way he deserves that. Not one more second of your life. You keep every second for yourself. You keep them and be happy. God will take care of the rest.”
Overall, I think this was an amazing read! It really opened my eyes and understanding of fear, faith and perseverance. No matter what kind of hell you have been through, there is always a way a back. You can be happy. There is one quote from this book that I found to be very inspiring and I want end this review with it.
“As of this writing, I am twenty-five years old. I have been alive for 307 months. Nine of those months were pretty terrible. But 298 of those months have been very good. I have been happy. I have been very blessed. Who knows how many more months I have to live? But even if I died tomorrow, nine out of 307 seems like pretty good odds.”
Watch Out For: Threats with a knife, being bound by a cord, threats of killing, recounts of rape and sex (but little detail as possible), forced drinking, abuse, and abduction.
