Overview

A House in the Sky is the dramatic and redemptive memoir of Amanda Lindhout, 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, 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.

Full Product Details

9781486211258

Table of Contents

Reviews

'One of the most powerfully written books I have ever read.' -- Elizabeth Gilbert 'Moving and informative reading for everyone.' (Starred Review) -- Library Journal 'Writing with immediacy and urgency, Lindhout and Corbett recount the horrific ordeal in crisp, frank, evocative prose. But what readers will walk away with is an admiration for Lindhout's deep reserves of courage under unimaginable circumstances.' -- Booklist

'Moving and informative reading for everyone.' (Starred Review) -- Library Journal 'Writing with immediacy and urgency, Lindhout and Corbett recount the horrific ordeal in crisp, frank, evocative prose. But what readers will walk away with is an admiration for Lindhout's deep reserves of courage under unimaginable circumstances.' -- Booklist

Author Information

Amanda Lindhout is the founder of the Global Enrichment Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that supports development, aid and education initiatives in Somalia and Kenya. Sara Corbett is a journalist whose articles have appeared in National Geographic, Esquire and O, The Oprah Magazine. A contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine, she is the author of Venus to the Hoop and coauthor of A House in the Sky with Amanda Lindhout. Amanda Lindhout is the founder of the Global Enrichment Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that supports development, aid and education initiatives in Somalia and Kenya.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available