First thoughts
MOST of us are familiar with Jaycee Dugard’s story. We’re aware that the American was kidnapped at age 11; and that she was kept in a back yard until her release 18 years later. We learned, with horror, of her jailers, the mentally unstable Phillip Craig Garrido and his strange wife Nancy. We could only imagine what Jaycee had been through, missing out on life, and giving birth to two daughters, one at just 14.
Two years after her release, Jaycee has penned her story. It’s a heartrending account detailing all that has happened to her from that terrible day, June 10, 1991, until the present. It’s difficult reading about the initial weeks and months of her capture; of her imprisonment in a tiny room, where she was left handcuffed; of the first rape; and of the sexual marathons when Garrido would keep going by taking drugs.
It’s almost worse though, to learn of the control Garrido exerted over the little girl. He told her that by helping him with his sexual problem, she was preventing other girls from being hurt. Jaycee wanted to keep him happy.
Even before the kidnap her life was blighted. Her stepfather, Clive, made her life hell. He played constant mind games. This left her craving love.
Jaycee writes well.
She spares the reader the more lurid details, but describes her feelings in some detail. She tries to be fair to Garrido’s wife, Nancy, but it’s clear she was a difficult and taciturn woman.
In her 20s, as a mum-of-two, Jaycee kept a journal. Some of her concerns were universal. She worried about her weight, and wished she could be stronger minded about watching what she ate.
By this stage there were outings to the shops and the beach. And, instead of trying to escape, Jaycee kept a low profile. She was terrified of people knowing who she was. She missed her mother, but thought she would never survive without Garrido’s protection.
This is an important and a brave book. It gives us a glimpse into the mind of a paedophile, showing how he justifies the act to himself. It also raises questions about the treatment of former offenders.
Garrido was seeing a psychiatrist throughout Jaycee’s capture.
He was diagnosed and treated, for both bipolar disorder and ADD, yet his behaviour was enabled.
Jaycee is now learning to cope with normal life. She’s receiving counselling and has set up a foundation to help others who’ve suffered trauma.
Now approaching 30, she’s managing well. One can only hope that she achieves the happiness she so richly deserves.
Review: Victoria Burt
BEES In The City looks at how people from all walks of life are keeping bees after news spread that the species is in decline.
From community gardens to school playgrounds and office roof-tops, people are caring for their bees in cities all over the UK.
This book looks at the importance of educating people about the plight of bees, improving the environment and encouraging urban beekeeping so they can thrive.
It also advises on where to place your hive, how to maintain it and what bees to keep.
Authored by bee experts Alison Benjamin, an environmental and social issues journalist for The Guardian newspaper, and Brian McCallum, who studies apiculture (bees!), this pair are used to writing about the subject in a deft, authoritative way.
Anyone interested in improving the environment for bees, or keeping their own to get close to nature, should read this book. An informative, surprisingly enjoyable read. Loved it!
Review: Sarah Warwick
THOSE of us who have read Julian Barnes before know what to expect. The Flaubert’s Parrot and Arthur & George author’s clear, unpretentious prose has won him many fans and three previous Man Booker prize nominations — now four, as The Sense Of An Ending was chosen for the Man Booker Longlist even before its publication.
Many think this book is a shoe-in for the award, but is this the right book to win it?
Fans of his previous work would surely argue this thin, wandering volume, although often spot-on about the bittersweet, misleading memories of youth, doesn’t quite reach the high watermark left by his usual oeuvre.
The book’s main plot twist fails to satisfy, leaving a burbled resolution quite unbefitting of one of modern English literature’s greatest names.
Review: Victoria Burt
KELLEY ARMSTRONG is a Canadian author who has written several supernatural and spy adventure series, including the best-selling Women Of The Otherworld series, of which Spellbound is the 12th book.
It kicks off where the previous book, Waking The Witch, concluded, with our heroine witch Savannah Levine having just given up her powers to save a young girl’s life. She and her best friend Adam are out to discover which demon took those powers in the hope they can get them back before the witch hunter out to destroy her tracks them down.
Savannah and friends, including a host of demons, ghosts and those able to summon them, must also stop those who are hell-bent on uncovering their true identity and intent on putting an end to their peaceful existence on Earth.
Young adults and older readers keen on modern fantasy fiction, the afterlife and the supernatural will enjoy reading Spellbound, though reading Waking The Witch beforehand is advisable to understand the first few chapters of this book.
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