Book Review: My Story

Women's History Month

For Women's History Month The Book Babe will be focusing on memoirs written by women, biographies of women throughout history, and books that highlight women's issues or have a feminist focus.

This is the powerful memoir of kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart. Elizabeth was held captive by a religious zealot and his wife for nine months, mostly spent hiding in the mountains of Utah. She was only 14-years-old when she was taken from her bed in the middle of the night. 

It's obvious that Elizabeth is an incredible, strong, and amazing woman. What she overcame is simply breathtaking. She says in her memoir she has not even undergone therapy after her return home, instead she has relied on the love of her family, faith, and horseback riding. I found the fact that she relies on her horses as a form of therapy very interesting. In her memoir, A Stolen Life, fellow kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard said she also relied on horses as a form of therapy.

Hearing Elizabeth narrate the audiobook herself was very moving. You could hear the anger in her voice still as she tells the story of her captivity. She did a great job recounting her tale and her narrative pulled me right in. I would actually find myself a bit agitated, anxious, and stressed while listening to it. She really brings the reader/listener right into her story. I was drawn in so much that it actually affected my mood, but I look at that as a sign that the writing in a book is really good. There were also times where I was almost brought to tears and overcome with joy after she was returned to her family. 

Elizabeth also makes it very, very clear several times during her memoir that she never once felt sorry for her captors or suffered from Stockholm Syndrome. This is a point she is constantly stressing.

I felt how she has moved on with her life to be very inspiring. She went on to attend school at BYU and serve her Mission in Paris, France. She later married a fellow missionary and was married at the Mormon Temple in Hawaii. 

I really enjoyed this memoir and I'm giving My Story 4 out of 5 stars.