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A House in the Sky  By  cover art

A House in the Sky

By: Amanda Lindhout, Sara Corbett
Narrated by: Amanda Lindhout
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Publisher's summary

Amanda Lindhout reads her spectacularly dramatic memoir of a woman whose curiosity about the world led her from rural Canada to imperiled and dangerous countries on every continent, and then into 15 months of harrowing captivity in Somalia - a story of courage, resilience, and extraordinary grace.

At the age of 18, Amanda Lindhout moved from her hardscrabble Alberta hometown to the big city - Calgary - and worked as a cocktail waitress, saving her tips so she could travel the globe. As a child, she escaped a violent household by paging through National Geographic and imagining herself in its exotic locales. Now she would see those places for real. She backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and emboldened by each experience, went on to travel solo across Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. In war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a TV reporter. In August 2008, she traveled to Mogadishu, Somalia - "the most dangerous place on Earth" - to report on the fighting there. On her fourth day in the country, she and her photojournalist companion were abducted.

An astoundingly intimate and harrowing account of Lindhout's 15 months as a captive, A House in the Sky illuminates the psychology, motivations, and desperate extremism of her young guards and the men in charge of them. She is kept in chains, nearly starved, and subjected to unthinkable abuse. She survives by imagining herself in a "house in the sky", looking down at the woman shackled below, and finding strength and hope in the power of her own mind. Lindhout's decision, upon her release, to counter the violence she endured by founding an organization to help the Somali people rebuild their country through education is a wrenching testament to the capacity of the human spirit and an astonishing portrait of the power of compassion and forgiveness.

©2013 Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett (P)2013 Simon & Schuster

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What listeners say about A House in the Sky

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What a wonderful heart wrenching memoir.

This is an outstanding book, What a heart wrenching story. I will definitely pass this on anyone who wants a good read.

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incredible story of life love travel

amazing book showing how Amanda used her intelligence & overcame adversity. generous author. I enjoyed her writing style and descriptions of her travels that filled my senses.
didn't want to put down book. Great story of life love travel and how she overcame a great deal of trauma once kidnapped in Somalia. I applaud her courage and strength and ultimate perservence.

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The power of the human spirit

The compelling true story of travel, captivity and endurance with an expose of the Islamic faith that will chill you.

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Grateful and enlightened

This book came highly recommended. Biographical stories of captives and suffering are not usually my thing.

I couldn't turn this one off. I'm reminded of the power of will to survive, and the power of the mind to feed that will. Bravo Amanda Lindout. Mighty Woman.

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Remarkable

Amazing that a person could experience what Amanda went through, in terms of confinement and torture, and then be able to narrate the book she wrote about her captivity. Many scenes were so hard for me to listen to. I kept asking myself how could she relive all of that experience by writing the book and then narrating it. Remarkable.

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A Painful Read

Lindhout’s 400+ days of captivity reek with the presentation of Somali citizens who endure so much harm and those few Somali insurgents who deliver unmanageable harm to this amazing Canadian journalist. And yet she finds a tremendous resource in her own mind: a power to perceive differently and find the power of forgiveness. Great read!

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Gripping!

I had to download this after seeing it on Dateline, and how it took 10 additional years to get one of the captures behind bars. Such a heartbreaking story…. But Amanda’s strength, intellect and courage is phenomenal!

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Excellent

A very compelling and descriptive account. Excellently narrated.
This account will never be forgotten!
A very worthy read!!

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Incredible story of survival and the human spirit

I couldn’t put this one down. Tough read, brutal truth, and beautifully written, one that will stay with me forever.

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Incredible story! Very well written and delivered

I loved this entire book and was only disappointed when it was over. After the initial chapters in which you learn what kind of person Amanda is, the story becomes fascinating, horrifying, uplifting, and disturbing, all at once. I listened to it during my commute to/from work and every day I couldn't wait to get into the car.

Amanda does a great job of reading the book, and because she is the author she really delivers a deep feeling for what the story is about.

Listen to it. You'll love it.

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17 people found this helpful