Living Dead Girl

This past Friday, I had a doctor's appointment and found myself close to a Barnes & Noble. There aren't any bookstores around my house anymore, so I decided to pop in and see if there was anything good. I picked up 4 books, including Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. I had been wanting to read it but hadn't picked up a copy yet.

Later that night, I curled up on my couch and decided to start reading it. I figured I would read for awhile and write for awhile. WRONG! I finished the book in a few hours and had an extremely difficult time putting it down (even long enough to go to the bathroom). So, let's start with a summary of the story.

Living Dead Girl is the story of a young girl who was abducted at 10 and held captive for 5 years. At the time of the story, she is 15 and has been living with Ray, who has been passing her off as his daughter. She has endured horrific sexual and physical abuse. Ray decides he's ready for someone new, because "Alice" is getting too old for him. They hatch a plan, but I won't tell you what happens.

I must say that I think Elizabeth Scott did a great job writing this story. As someone who works with children who have been sexually abused, I found her portrayal of the main character very realistic. The girl referred to herself as "living dead" and "hollow." These are feelings I see in victims quite frequently. She also became desensitized to sex and found herself quite easily giving in to anyone who wanted it.

Another part of the story that I appreciated was when Alice talked about seeing the talk shows with sexual abuse victims. She commented on how the victims were asked why they didn't tell someone or try to get away. Alice undertands that the fear of what the perpetrator could do is enough to keep anyone from talking or running. This is very true in the cases I've seen. Many children won't talk of their abuse, because they are afraid of what the perpetrator may do.
Elizabeth Scott did an excellent job telling an important story and doing it in a way that people would be willing to digest. This has become one of my favorite books.