A House In The Sky by Amanda Lindhout and sara Corbett

The dramatic and redemptive memoir of a woman whose curiosity led her to the world’s most beautiful and remote places, its most imperiled and perilous countries, and then into fifteen months of harrowing captivity—an exquisitely written story of courage, resilience, and grace.

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 kept in chains, in the dark, being tortured.

Vivid and suspenseful, as artfully written as the finest novel, 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. (cover)

A good part of the book is getting to know Amanda's family life and work life, you need this to see why she makes the choices she makes...some are not great!

You can see that Amanda is a compassionate person, while reading the book she makes you get a clear picture of who her captors where ( I even really liked ones character). Amanda, months after returning home, founded the Global Enrichment Foundation. Originally focusing on educational initiatives for women in Somalia, this foundation continues to create development and aid in Somalia and Kenya to this day. She is using her horrible experience for better.

I ordered Nigel Bennan's book the price of life just to see what his side looked at,( I won't get it for a couple of months but will let you know what I think when I do:) Amanda at times made him seem like he was a little wimpy. It is amazing how two people can go through a life changing event together and then not speak to each other any more once they are free! I do believe the families are at odds because of the ransom money.

A good read!! I do own this book if you want to borrow it. There is one person who has claimed it already but you can be next:)