Story Description:
Penguin Press(HC) | September 21, 2010 | Hardcover |
ISBN: 978-1-59420-265-0
Ingrid Betancourt tells the story of her captivity in
the Colombian jungle, sharing powerful teachings of resilience, resistance, and
faith. Born in Bogota, raised in France,
Ingrid Betancourt at the age of thirty-two gave up a life of comfort and safety
to return to Colombia to become a political leader in a country that was being
slowly destroyed by terrorism, violence, fear, and a pervasive sense of
hopelessness. In 2002, while campaigning
as a candidate in the Colombian presidential election, she was abducted by the
FARC. Nothing could have prepared her
for what came next. She would spend the
next six and half years in the depth of the jungle as a prisoner of the
FARC. Even Silence Has an End is her deeply personal and moving account
of that time. Chained day and night for
much of her captivity, she never stopped dreaming of escape and in fact,
succeeded in getting away several times, always to be recaptured in her most
successful effort she and a fellow captive survived a week away, but were
caught when her companion became desperately ill; she learned later they had
been mere miles from freedom.
The facts of her story are astounding but it is
Betancourt’s indomitable spirit that drives this very special account, bringing
life, nuance, and profundity to the narrative.
Attending as intimately to the landscape of her mind as she does to the
events of her capture and captivity, Even
Silence Has an End is a meditation on the very stuff of life-fear and
freedom, hope and what inspires it.
Betancourt tracks her metamorphosis, sharing how in the routines she
established for herself-listening to her mother and two children broadcast to
her over the radio, daily prayer-she was able to do the unthinkable: to move
through the pain of the moment and find a place of serenity.
Freed in 2008 by the Colombian army, today Betancourt
is determined to draw attention to the plight of hostages and victims of
terrorism throughout the world and it is that passion that motivates Even Silence Has an End. The lessons she offers here-in courage,
resilience, and humanity-are gifts to treasure.
My Review:
What a powerful and heart-wrenching story this
was! Ingrid Betancourt is a true
survivor who lived through the worst nightmare anyone could imagine. After being abducted by a terrorist group
called FARC, Ingrid suffered immeasurable abuse, the harshest of conditions,
disease, insect bites, and illness deep in the Colombian jungle. For six and half years she was a puppet,
manipulated and mistreated, often starving for food and drink, being forced to
use bathroom conditions that were sub-human, sleeping quarters that often left
her laying soaking in the rain with a chain around neck and attached at the
other end to a tree to prevent escape.
Miraculously, she did manage to escape on several different occasions
only to be caught and dragged back to the camp and re-chained. Her last escape netted her an entire week of
freedom with a fellow prisoner but she also received the harshest treatment
after that final escape attempt.
I was completely mesmerized by the story and the
faith, stamina, and resilience Ingrid showed in the face of such dire
adversity. An immensely strong and brave
woman, Ingrid often fought her jailers and spoke up for kind treatment of her
fellow prisoners, often earning herself even crueller treatment.
This is one book that I think everyone should
read. You can’t even begin to imagine
what it would be like to live under the conditions Ingrid did for as long as
she did. Just the mental exhaustion and
anxiety alone would have been enough to do me in. I certainly hope and pray that Ingrid has
healed well and has had a smooth transition back into her family and with her children after enduring what she did for
six and a half years.
Even Silence
has an End is a hugely powerful story!
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