The harrowing true story of abduction and survival from the courageous young woman who lived it—now the subject of a Lifetime original movie, I Am Elizabeth Smart. In this memoir, 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. Elizabeth 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. With My Story, Elizabeth 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 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. She and her husband, Matthew Gilmour, now have two children.
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"Her intimate story sheds light on her captivity and how she was able to rebuild her life after such an altering and scarring event. The audiobook, beautifully narrated by the author, has an extra dimension of truth and emotion."
— Library Journal
“Although the details of her case are already well known, Smart’s memoir is as compelling as it is disturbing. Her stoic Mormon faith, moreover, will both inspire and mystify readers.”
— Boston GlobeElizabeth Smart is an American activist and president of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation. She first gained widespread attention at age fourteen when she was kidnapped from her home and rescued nine months later.
Chris Stewart, after playing drums with a circus, spent time in Amsterdam, learned flamenco guitar in Seville, crewed a yacht across the North Atlantic, wrote for the Rough Guide series of travel books, and gained a pilot’s license. Chris continues to live and farm his Spanish mountain home and, as well as being fluent in Spanish, he can also speak Dutch, Mandarin Chinese, Swedish, and Italian.