“a stolen life” by Jaycee Dugard is about a young girl who was captured at a very young age (11). Her capturer being a man twice her age who needed her help to fix his “problem.” Which at a young age Jaycee believed to be true. Truth is, he was using her for sexual pleasure. Jaycee was told this lie for many years, meaning attempting to escape whenever she had the chance. Until she reaches the age of 14; she finds out she is carrying a baby girl. Once she is born, she is the only thing tying Jaycee down to the horrors of the home she grew to become used to. Later on in the book she is met with more surprises and challenges throughout her 18 years of captivity. Which is why it is an incredible book and definitely recommendable to others. The author (Jaycee) is able to immediately grab readers attention, introduce something new within every chapter, and is able to help us create a relationship with her.

In the beginning of the autobiography, Jaycee captures the reader’s attention by commencing at the beginning of the day in which she will be taken. She begins engaging the reader by creating a sentimental feeling when she saids, “I made a point the night before to remind her to kiss me good-bye. As I lay in bed waiting, I hear the front door close. She has left. She has forgotten. I guess there is always tonight when she gets home from work to give her a kiss and hug.” (Dugard, 26) Reading from the book’s introduction and book summary we know she will be getting kidnapped. We know that may or may not have been her last chance to embrace her mother. So we feel sympathy for her and continue to read on, urging to find out when she will see her mother once again.

While continuously reading along with her life story we are given new drastic events that catch us off guard. The main turning point was when she was told she might be pregnant. “I told them my stomach was hurting a lot, too. They said, “We think you might be pregnant.” I was stunned and scared. What was going to happen to me? What was going to happen to the baby?” (Dugard, 167) The same questions she asked herself, were the same question we asked while reading. Where will she have the baby if she is not allowed to leave the house? Questions that drives you to keep reading into young Jaycee’s life. To summarize this situation; she has her first daughter at age fourteen. Her name is “A.” Two years later she gives birth to her second child, “G.” Adding even more weight to her shoulders. Also leading us to ask ourselves, “What will happen next?”

In general, “feeling” wise, the author is able have create multiple emotions throughout the book. An example for sympathy and sorrow is when she saids, “I am thirteen years old. I do not feel thirteen. I still feel like I’m eleven.” (Dugard, 128) Time, is a crucial thing in a child’s life. In this case Jaycee is missing her childhood, she is being held captive. It is a sad thing to miss out on the important events in a kids/teenagers life. Which is what was stolen from her; her innocence her child experiences. In another section of the book Jaycee is able to feel her pain even when she doesn’t say it directly. “He says that would be dangerous. Dangerous to whom? But I don’t argue.” (Dugard, Page 173) We feel the surrender and pain in her tone, she has given up on fighting back. We realize that she has finally come to accept it. We know that from here she will endure the most pain and receive traumatizing experiences. Which hurts us, but helps keep our focus on the book to continue reading it and create a relationship with her. With what she goes to we are able to relate to her, and put her experience with ours. Feeling the similarity, feeling the relationship forming between reader and author.

To sum it up, “a stolen life” by Jaycee Dugard is a definite read to those who are looking for a story with emotion and sensibility. A book that Dugard is able to immediately grab readers attention, introduce something new within every chapter, and is able to help us create a relationship with her. It is a positive recommendation in taking the time to read.

There are novelists, most notably Emma Donoghue in “Room,” who have tried to imagine what a plight like this is like. There are tabloids that have capitalized on its obscenity. And there are far too many survivors of ghastly crimes who have told their stories in lurid terms laced with self-pity. But Ms. Dugard is different. Her book is brave, dignified and painstakingly honest, even when it comes to the banal particulars of how she stayed afloat. The best parts of “A Stolen Life” are good enough to outweigh the hand-written journal entries about Eclipse, her beloved kitten. Yes, Eclipse is the name Ms. Dugard innocently chose.