Where There's Hope

A powerful and inspiring guide to overcoming trauma, reclaiming life, and finding hope in the darkest of times.

Elizabeth Smart follows up her #1 New York Times bestseller, My Story—about being held in captivity as a teenager and how she managed to survive—with a compelling exploration of what it takes to overcome trauma, find the strength to move on, and reclaim one's life.

Author. Activist. Victim—no more.

In her fearless memoir, My Story—the basis of the Lifetime Original movie I Am Elizabeth Smart—Elizabeth detailed, for the first time, the horror behind the headlines of her abduction by religious fanatic Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee. Since then, she's married, become a mother, and traveled the world as the president of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, sharing her story with the intent of helping others along the way.

Over and over, Elizabeth is asked the same question: How do you find the hope to go on? In Where There's Hope, Elizabeth returns to the horrific experiences she endured, and the hard-won lessons she learned, to provide answers. She also calls upon others who have dealt with adversity—victims of violence, disease, war, and loss—to explore the pathways toward hope. Through conversations with such well-known voices as Anne Romney, Diane von Furstenberg, and Mandy Patinkin to spiritual leaders Archbishop John C. Wester and Elder Richard Hinckley to her own parents, Elizabeth uncovers an even greater sense of solace and understanding.

Where There's Hope is the result of Elizabeth's mission: It is both an up-close-and-personal glimpse into her healing process and a heartfelt how-to guide for readers to make peace with the past and embrace the future.

From the book:

"I was not willing to accept that my fate was to live unhappily ever after. Everything—my family, my home, my chance to go to school—had been given back to me, and I didn't want to miss a second chance of living my own life." —Elizabeth Smart

"There are two types of survivors: the ones who did not die, and the ones who live. There will be those who will always remember and be the victim, and ones who just won't. You have to go on, you have to learn, and you have to heal." —Diane von Furstenberg