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1-Page Summary of A Stolen Life
Overview
A Stolen Life is a memoir by Jaycee Dugard, who was kidnapped at the age of 11 and held captive in a hidden backyard compound. After being abducted from her school bus stop, she was forced into the back seat of a strange car. A man then used a stun gun on her and covered her with a blanket before taking her to his house. She tried to escape but he caught up with her and took her to another location where he shaved off all of the hair on parts of already-shaved areas (her underarm, leg, pubic hair) and wrapped his towel around him/herself. He led Jaycee through an opening into what turned out to be this secret room that had handcuffs attached to its walls; there were also other girls inside this room as well as their captor Phillip Garrido who handcuffed Jaycee too after locking everyone else away so that he could have sex with them whenever he wanted without anyone knowing about it except for Nancy and himself because they lived right next door!
A week after her kidnapping, Jaycee is dependent on Phillip for food and a toilet. He also warns that Dobermans are guarding the door. A week into her captivity, he rapes her for the first time.
When Phillip isn’t having sex with Jaycee, she sleeps. When he does have sex with her, he plays guitar for her or tells jokes to make her laugh. He says that she’s helping him by preventing him from hurting other people.
One night, Phillip wakes up Jaycee and takes her to a larger room next door. He tells her that he’s staying up for several days while using drugs. When she hesitates, he threatens her with his stun gun. After the first time, Phillip forces Jaycee to be with him during his drug runs.
Phillip introduces Jaycee to his wife, Nancy. Phillip and Nancy sleep on the pullout couch in the living room while Jaycee sleeps on a pallet on the floor. Occasionally, Nancy talks to Jaycee and tells her about her job at a convalescent home. She brings Jaycee magazines and small gifts. By the end of year one in captivity, they’re spending evenings together eating fast food and watching movies but she’s still forced to stay mostly in the tiny room with no running water or toilet facilities.
Phillip was in prison for drug possession and parole violation, but he denies it to Jaycee. Later on, Phillip tells Jaycee that he’s hearing voices and later calls them angels.
Phillip buys a cat for Jaycee, but he takes it away after a month. During the month, Jaycee writes about her cat’s life in a journal. Phillip makes her remove any reference to herself in the book before showing it to him. In early 1994, Jaycee learns she is pregnant and gives birth on August 18, 1994 to a baby girl in the larger room of their backyard shack. Her days are consumed by caring for the baby.
In 1996, Nancy brings home a cockatiel for Jaycee. The bird’s name is Sarge and it stands for “Sergeant.” It was abused by its previous owners but eventually becomes friendly with the family. One day when Nancy takes the bird outside in cold weather, she forgets to bring him back inside until much later that night. By morning, Sarge has died from exposure to the cold.
When Jaycee is 17, she becomes pregnant again. Phillip builds an additional room that is partially outdoors with three walls and tells her that he will never hurt the baby or “A”. He also asks Jaycee to do jobs for him on his business computer called Printing for Less.
In 1997, Jaycee gave birth to her second daughter. She began homeschooling the girls and Phillip warned her not to use the internet to find their family. Meanwhile, Phillip’s parole agent continued visiting him because he was still on parole for rape. The agent didn’t realize that Phillip’s property extended farther back from his home where Jaycee lived.
