My Story

By: Elizabeth Smart, Chris Stewart

Narrated by: Elizabeth Smart

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

For the first time, 10 years after her abduction from her Salt Lake City bedroom, 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, 14-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. She 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.

Now for the first time, in her memoir, My Story, she 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 nine 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. In 2012, she married Matthew Gilmour, whom she met doing mission work in Paris for her church, in a fairy tale wedding that made the cover of People magazine.

©2013 Elizabeth Smart (P)2013 Macmillan Audio

Wry storyteller, incredible story

Any additional comments?

She is very religious, but in her case it helped her survive something awful. She has such a great sarcasm...it's refreshing.

good book

This book is much easier to hear than read. a truly inspiring story of courage.

Such a strong woman!

I was tremendously impressed by her internal strength, it was remarkable. I wonder however how much of that is hindsight? In any case, she’s a very brave person!

A parallel story about the search for her would have been an interesting addition.

Inspiring

It is hard to imagine what this young girl went through. It is so inspiring that she has chose to move forward with her life and not let her captures win!

Sad and disturbing story

Would you consider the audio edition of My Story to be better than the print version?

did not read the print version, so no opinion

What did you like best about this story?

the fact this story was not fiction

Which scene was your favorite?

Elizabeth's return to her parents

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Her refusal to admit she was Elizabeth Smart

So frightening, and so inspiring

Amazing story. Ms Smart is an amazing and resilient person. She shows how you can be grateful for many things even in the hardest of times.

Amazing story!

This story was very well written and I appreciated that she didn’t go into detail of the abuse. I like that it was read by the author. What a great example of faith. I truly believe that she wouldn’t have gotten through it without her faith. I have always admired her, but I am so proud of her for not letting this experience break her and being the person she is today!

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Excellent book riveting, and amazing. Listening to it make me think about my own daughter.

What a young intelligent lady!

I was flabbergasted at how well this young lady handled herself over the 9 months with these evil people.

Amazing Story

Would you listen to My Story again? Why?

I love the disdain in Elizabeth's voice, her sarcasm, her "ARE YOU F$%#ING CRAZY" when telling her tale. I love that she is happy and not wallowing in what happened to her. It would be hard not to be bitter and broken. She has an amazing family. I wish her all the happiness in the world. She's a beautiful, amazing young woman.