A House in the Sky: A MemoirThe spectacularly dramatic memoir of a woman whose curiosity about the world led her from rural Canada to imperiled and dangerous countries on every continent, and then into fifteen months of harrowing captivity in Somalia—a story of courage, resilience, and extraordinary grace. 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. |
Contents
Section 1 | 1 |
Section 2 | 5 |
Section 3 | 19 |
Section 4 | 26 |
Section 5 | 30 |
Section 6 | 36 |
Section 7 | 43 |
Section 8 | 53 |
Section 24 | 196 |
Section 25 | 205 |
Section 26 | 210 |
Section 27 | 219 |
Section 28 | 227 |
Section 29 | 234 |
Section 30 | 237 |
Section 31 | 245 |
Section 9 | 60 |
Section 10 | 66 |
Section 11 | 76 |
Section 12 | 80 |
Section 13 | 89 |
Section 14 | 102 |
Section 15 | 106 |
Section 16 | 117 |
Section 17 | 123 |
Section 18 | 135 |
Section 19 | 147 |
Section 20 | 157 |
Section 21 | 165 |
Section 22 | 175 |
Section 23 | 184 |
Section 32 | 257 |
Section 33 | 267 |
Section 34 | 274 |
Section 35 | 281 |
Section 36 | 288 |
Section 37 | 295 |
Section 38 | 304 |
Section 39 | 307 |
Section 40 | 312 |
Section 41 | 319 |
Section 42 | 329 |
Section 43 | 339 |
Section 44 | 343 |
Section 45 | 354 |
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Common terms and phrases
abaya Abdi Abdullah Afghanistan African Union Ahmed Ajoos Al-Shabaab Allah Amanda asked backpack Baghdad bathroom beneath boys Calgary called captors couldn’t dark didn’t Donald Donald Trump door dress Ethiopia everything eyes face feel felt floor front hair hallway hand happened Hassam he’d head hear heard hijab inside Islamic Jamal Kabul kidnapped kids kill Kismayo knew Koran LINDHOUT living looked mattress mind minutes Mogadishu Mohammed months morning mosque mother moved Muslim Nairobi Nigel night okay passed plastic prayer Press TV pulled ransom Red Deer Romeo scarf seemed Shamo shoulders side sitting Skids smile soldiers Somali sound spent stay story Sylvan Lake talking they’d things thought told took trying voice waiting walked wall wanted wasn’t watched we’d weeks What’s who’d window woman words worried