Readalikes: A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

This week’s #1 New York Times Bestseller in Hardcover Fiction is still A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin. Since I’ve already done read-a-likes for that title, I’m going to try my hand at this week’s Bestseller in Hardcover Nonfiction, which is: A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard.

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

From the product description on Amazon.com: “In the summer of 1991 I was a normal kid. I did normal things. I had friends and a mother who loved me. I was just like you. Until the day my life was stolen. For eighteen years I was a prisoner. I was an object for someone to use and abuse. For eighteen years I was not allowed to speak my own name. I became a mother and was forced to be a sister. For eighteen years I survived an impossible situation. On August 26, 2009, I took my name back. My name is Jaycee Lee Dugard. I don’t think of myself as a victim. I survived. A Stolen Life is my story—in my own words, in my own way, exactly as I remember it.

I have a confession to make. I love kidnapping stories. It’s terrible, and I am a terrible person, but I find them to be incredibly compelling. And, luckily, since I almost exclusively read fictional kidnapping stories, the victim always overcomes, and I am so proud of him/her. I have not read this particular book yet (I am on hold for it at the library), but I am looking forward to cheering Jaycee on in her quest to rediscover herself.

That being said, I know my kidnapping fiction/non-fiction.

To start with some fiction read-a-likes, I think on everyone’s list will be Room by Emma Donoghue. A National Book Award finalist, this book had a lot of buzz last year. That being said, I wasn’t a big fan. It has an interesting psychological twist to it as it is told from the point of view of a 5-year-old who has only ever lived in captivitly. I just found the narrator to be so inconsistent that I disliked the book (not unreliable, literally and in a literary fashion inconsistent). I freely admit that I’m a book snob (see my earlier post for more info), but I can understand that most readers disagree with me, hence the read-a-like. If I had to choose my favorite kidnapping fiction, Still Missing would be it. Chevy Stevens has just enough suspense and just enough character development to keep you going. Also, you know from the beginning that the victim survives the kidnapping, as the book is told in flash-backs. It’s not a piece of literature, but its a step up from James Patterson. Just be ready for a “done-like-only-Chevy-Stevens-can” twist, which I’ll write about when I review her next book, Never Knowing, later this week.

For the non-fiction true-crime junkie reading this book, I would first recommend A Child Called ‘It’ by Dave Peltzer. This classic tale of child abuse contains enough horrific details to make you sick to your stomach, but also has many of the same themes of overcoming terrible adversity that is seen in A Stolen Life. Finally, if all the person wants is a similar story try 3,096 Day by Natascha Kampusch. Natascha was kidnapped and held captive for 8 years (from 10-18). She is incredibly forgiving of her captor and very determined to move forward, like Jaycee Duggard.