I missed last week’s book review so I wanted to make sure I
hit it up this week. And the book up
this week is a doozy. It’s I’m No
Monster: The Horrifying True Story of Josef Fritzl by Stefanie Marsh and Bojan Pancevski. This is a “true crime” novel, so to
speak. It is the story of Elizabeth
Fritzl. Back before Elizabeth Smart and
Jaycee Dugard, there was Elisabeth Fritzl.
She was born in Austria. Her
father, Josef, began to abuse her at age 11.
At age 18, she was taken prisoner by her father and held captive in a
secret chamber in their home for the next 24 years while he repeatedly abused
her. She eventually bore him 7
children. One died shortly after birth,
three were allowed to live freely with Josef and his wife, Rosemarie. The other three remained with Elisabeth.
The story is an amazing tale of resilience and
survival. I felt like the authors treated
the case with a decent amount of respect considering the topic. The writing was not stellar, but it wasn’t
painful to read either, unlike the subject matter.
The biggest thing I want to stress is that this is NOT
Elisabeth’s story. She has never openly
shared her side of things. The authors
researched the family history and tracked the story in the press. They, from what I remember since it has been
a little while since I've read it, never got to talk to Elisabeth or other
members of the Fritzl family.
Incidentally, Elisabeth Fritzl does not go by her given name
anymore and the new town in which she lives in Austria is heavily guarded. Much of that protection stems from the local
townsfolk.
I can’t say whether or not you should read this book. It is certainly not for the faint-hearted. But, if you can handle such
difficult subject matter, it can give some insight into crimes like this.
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