A House in the Sky, Amanda Lindhout
A House in the Sky, Amanda Lindhout
34 Rating(s)
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
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A House in the Sky
A Memoir

Author: Amanda Lindhout, Sara Corbett

Narrator: Amanda Lindhout

Unabridged: 13 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/10/2013


Synopsis

The New York Times bestselling memoir of a woman whose curiosity led her to the world’s most remote places and then into fifteen months of captivity: “Exquisitely told…A young woman’s harrowing coming-of-age story and an extraordinary narrative of forgiveness and spiritual triumph” (The New York Times Book Review).

As a child, Amanda Lindhout escaped a violent household by paging through issues of National Geographic and imagining herself visiting 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 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.

Vivid and suspenseful, as artfully written as the finest novel, A House in the Sky is “a searingly unsentimental account. Ultimately it is compassion—for her naïve younger self, for her kidnappers—that becomes the key to Lindhout’s survival” (O, The Oprah Magazine).

About Amanda Lindhout

Amanda Lindhout is the founder of the Global Enrichment Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports development, aid, and education initiatives in Somalia and Kenya. For more information, visit AmandaLindhout.com and GlobalEnrichmentFoundation.com.

About Sara Corbett

Sara Corbett is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine. Her work has also appeared in National Geographic; Elle; Outside; O, The Oprah Magazine; Esquire; and Mother Jones.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul on December 04, 2013

I am sure I am going to get negative responses to this review but here goes. This a mediocre book at best. Yes the writing is polished but my guess is the reason for this is the co author, who writes for the New York Times Magazine. The first 140 odd pages details what a grossly naive person Amanda......more

Goodreads review by Brady on January 18, 2024

I don’t think I’ll ever rate any memoir lower than 5 stars lol This is an amazing story of a world traveler and how she survived being kidnapped and held captive for 460 days in the most dangerous country in the world, Somalia. Highly recommend the audiobook and being able to hear the story through h......more

Goodreads review by Greg on December 03, 2013

Impossible to put down, and easily one of the bravest, most harrowing, and most inspiring memoirs you'll ever read. What Amanda went through during her 15 months of captivity in Somalia is about as close to hell on earth as anyone could get, and her story is at once many things: a remembrance of tra......more

Goodreads review by David on September 09, 2013

Man, I don't know what to say about this one. I'd received it as an ARC from the publisher. Read it in just a few days. Saying I'm conflicted is an understatement. Yes it's the true story of a Canadian woman who, while working as a photojournalist (or at least she thinks she is), gets captured and h......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer on October 20, 2017

This was another brutal book experience of 2017! I'm exhausted! I'm late to the party so there isn't much to add that hasn't been said. This is being made into a movie starring Rooney Mara so there is that. I think she's a good pic to play Amanda Lindhout. Thank you to Mark for recommending this boo......more