A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett

Published: 
Publish Date: September 10, 2013
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 367
ISBN: 978 1451645606

As a child, Amanda Lindhout escaped a violent household by paging through issues of National Geographic and imagining herself in its exotic locales.  At the age of nineteen, working as a cocktail waitress in Calgary, Alberta, she began saving her tips so she could travel the globe.  Aspiring to understand the world and live a significant life, she backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and emboldened by each adventure, went on to Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan.  In war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a television reporter.  And then, in August 2008, she traveled to Somalia – “the most dangerous place on earth.”  On her Fourth day, she was abducted by a group of masked men along a dusty road.

Held hostage for 460 days, Amanda converts to Islam as a survival tactic, receives “wife lessons” from one of her captors, and risks a daring escape.  Moved between a series of abandoned houses in the desert, she survives on memory – every lush detail of the world she experienced in her life before captivity – and on strategy, fortitude, and hope.  When she is most desperate, she visits a house in the sky, high above the woman is kept in chains, in the dark, being tortured.

Vivid and suspenseful, A House in the Sky is the searingly intimate story of an intrepid young woman and her search for compassion in the face of unimaginable adversity.

My Thoughts

This is one of those books that every time I was in a bookstore would stop, pick it up, contemplate and then put back down and tell myself another time.  When it was selected as Chapters Indigo's October pick for their #worldsbiggestbookclub I knew it was finally time to dive in.  And am I ever glad I did.  Such a powerful and moving read full of real emotion.

This memoir either seems to speak to you or it doesn't.  There are a number of reviews out there that seem to think that Amanda Lindhout may have gotten what she deserves.  This is very disheartening.  Yes, she may have exposed herself to danger and been naive in thinking she was invincible but no mater if you are traveling in a "safe" country or a war torn country you never know what can happen.  No one deserves to be raped, beaten and torched.  I found it hard to understand how she remained so positive during her whole ordeal and has even gone as far as to forgive her captors.  Just goes to show how strong of a woman she is, and I have nothing but respect for her.

I found the first third of the book very interesting, while others found it boring I began to develop jealousy towards Lindhout, she was traveling to all the countries I've only dreamed about visiting and living the dream that many will never get to experience.

At the end of her memoir she mentions that Nigel wrote a book about his experience in Somalia and I would be very interesting on hearing his take on being imprisoned and his point of view.  I am also excited that the book had been optioned into a movie and it will be very interesting to see how it comes out.  What a true story of inspiration and perseverance.  

My Rating: ««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.