Book
A House in the Sky (2013) by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett: a memoir of captivity in Somalia
A House in the Sky is a 2013 memoir by the Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout, written with the journalist Sara Corbett and published by Scribner. It tells of her early travels and of the 460 days she and the Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were held captive after being kidnapped near Mogadishu in August 2008, until a ransom was paid and they were freed in November 2009. It was a New York Times bestseller.
A House in the Sky
- Author
- Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett
- Year
- 2013
- Publisher
- Scribner
- Language
- English
- Sources
- 3 sources
The book
A House in the Sky was published by Scribner in New York in 2013. It is the memoir of Amanda Lindhout, a Canadian freelance journalist born in 1981, written with the American journalist Sara Corbett (Wikipedia).
What it covers
- Early life and travels. The book begins with Lindhout's childhood in Alberta and her travels as a young adult, before she began working as a freelance journalist in Afghanistan in 2007 and Iraq in 2008 (Wikipedia).
- The kidnapping. On 23 August 2008, two days after arriving in Mogadishu, Lindhout and the Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan were kidnapped together with their Somali translator and drivers. Their captors were insurgents linked to the armed group Hizbul Islam (Wikipedia). The group is described on Hizbul Islam.
- Captivity. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of 2.5 million US dollars in October 2008, later lowered. The Somali translator and drivers were released in January 2009. Lindhout was separated from Brennan, and in the book she describes being abused and tortured. She and Brennan were freed on 25 November 2009, after 460 days, when their families paid a ransom through a private negotiator (Wikipedia).
- Faith in captivity. Lindhout writes that she and Brennan converted to Islam during their captivity in the hope of easing their situation (Wikipedia).
How it was received
- The book was a New York Times bestseller, and won the CBC Bookie Award for Best Canadian Nonfiction in 2014 (Wikipedia).
- Eliza Griswold, reviewing it for the New York Times, praised its storytelling, and Chris Selley of the National Post called it "bloody good journalism" (Wikipedia).
- Some journalists criticised the book, and parts of its account differ from Nigel Brennan's own memoir, The Price of Life (2011) (Wikipedia).
- In 2014 Annapurna Pictures took an option to make a film of the book (Wikipedia).
After the book
In 2010 Lindhout founded the Global Enrichment Foundation, which funds university scholarships for women in Somalia, and she has worked on projects in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya (Wikipedia). In 2015 Canadian police arrested a Somali man accused of acting as the kidnappers' negotiator; he was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to 15 years in prison (Wikipedia).
Where to read it
- Lending copy: Internet Archive
- In a library: WorldCat
Related pages
Sources
- Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Internet Archive · archive.org
- WorldCat · search.worldcat.org
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Where this matters
Same era
- Australia18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia lived in Australia at the 2021 Census, more than half in Victoria. History, work, issues.
- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Bristol (Somali diaspora)9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander in Census 2021, the city's largest minority group. Where they live, work, housing, leaders and ties home.
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada2,845 people of Somali origin lived in Calgary at the 2021 Census, plus 890 in Brooks. How they came, who serves them and what they face.
- Denmark (Somali diaspora)21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark in 2026, half born there. Numbers, history, work, permit reviews, and ties home.
- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
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- City of Thorns (2016) by Ben Rawlence: nine lives in the Dadaab campsBen Rawlence's City of Thorns (2016) on the Dadaab camps in Kenya: the nine Somali lives it follows, its main argument and how reviewers received it.
- Desert Flower (1998) by Waris Dirie: from nomad girl to model and campaignerWaris Dirie's Desert Flower (1998): her nomad childhood, escape, modelling career and campaign against FGM; its publication, translations and the 2009 film.
- Infidel (2006) by Ayaan Hirsi Ali: the memoir, its story and its receptionAyaan Hirsi Ali's memoir Infidel (Mijn Vrijheid, 2006): what it covers from Somalia to the Dutch parliament, sales, praise, criticism and later books.
- Keeping Hope Alive (2013) by Hawa Abdi: a doctor's memoir of the war yearsHawa Abdi's memoir Keeping Hope Alive (2013): her training, the clinic and camp on her family's land, the attack of 2010, and how reviewers received it.
- This Is What America Looks Like (2020) by Ilhan Omar: from refugee to CongressIlhan Omar's memoir This Is What America Looks Like (2020): her childhood in Mogadishu, the refugee years, life in the US and politics, and how reviewers from different sides received it.
- A Man of Good Hope (2015) by Jonny Steinberg: one Somali refugee's journey to South AfricaJonny Steinberg's A Man of Good Hope (2015): Asad Abdullahi's journey from Mogadishu through Kenya and Ethiopia to South Africa, how the book was made, and how reviewers received it.