New York: In an often wrenching memoir, Jaycee Dugard recounts in unsparing detail the rapes, isolation and heartbreak she endured during 18 years as a kidnap victim twice impregnated by her captor.
Entitled ‘A Stolen Life,' the memoir is officially scheduled to go on sale next week. The Associated Press purchased a copy on Thursday.
Dugard, now 31, was kidnapped from South Lake Tahoe, California, in 1991, when she was 11, then sexually abused and held captive for 18 years by Phillip and Nancy Garrido. She gave birth to two daughters by Phillip Garrido. The couple pleaded guilty and received lengthy prison sentences earlier this year: 431 years to life for Phillip Garrido and 36 years to life for his wife.
Dugard writes that she decided to publish the memoir for two reasons: to provide a precise account of the ordeals inflicted on her by the Garridos, and in hopes her story might be of help to people facing difficult situations of their own. She said her goal was to inspire people to speak out when they see something amiss around them, that they, "can endure tough situations and survive," she writes.
The book concludes on a reflective note.
