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Jaycee Dugard’s memoir, ‘A Stolen Life,’ will be published in July

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Jaycee Dugard’s memoir of her kidnapping and 18 years of captivity, ‘A Stolen Life,’ will be published by Simon & Schuster on July 12. The book will continue to roughly the present day -- and include her discovery and liberation in 2009 from the backyard where she’d been held in Antioch, Calif.

Maria LaGanga, who covered much of the case for the L.A. Times, writes at L.A. Now:

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The case drew international headlines after Dugard and two daughters she bore with Phillip Garrido were discovered living on the Garridos’ property in Antioch, Calif., in August 2009. The Garridos faced 29 charges of kidnapping and sexual assault. Under the plea deal, Phillip Garrido will receive a maximum possible sentence of 431 years to life in prison. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping and 13 counts of sexual assault. Nancy Garrido, who snatched Dugard and later helped deliver her babies, pleaded guilty to kidnapping, one count of rape by force for aiding and abetting, and other charges in exchange for a sentence of 25 years to life, in addition to 11 more years.

‘I’m relieved that Phillip and Nancy Garrido have finally acknowledged their guilt and confessed to their crimes against me and my family,’ Dugard said in a statement at the time of the plea deal in April. Sentencing for the Garridos is scheduled for June 2.

The book stands poised to be a sensation. Dugard’s disappearance -- from a quiet street in the broad light of day -- is every parent’s nightmare. If what she endured is unimaginable, her survival is equally astonishing.

‘Not only does Jaycee Dugard have a truly important story to tell,’ Jonathan Karp, executive vice president and publisher, said in a release when the book was announced, ‘but she writes with such honesty and intimacy, that as I read her narrative, I felt like I was in the room with her.’

Yet Dugard may not need ‘A Stolen Life’ to be a bestseller. She and her family received a $20-million settlement from the state after filing a claim that said authorities failed to properly supervise Phillip Garrido, who was on parole for rape when he and his wife kidnapped Dugard.

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Narratives of captivity

-- Carolyn Kellogg

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