Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland

Two victims of the infamous Cleveland kidnapper share the story of their abductions, their decade in captivity, and their final, dramatic rescue

On May 6, 2013, Amanda Berry made headlines around the world when she fled a Cleveland area home and called 911, saying: “Help me, I’m Amanda Berry. . . . I’ve been kidnapped, and I’ve been missing for ten years.”

A horrifying story rapidly unfolded. Ariel Castro, a local school bus driver, had separately lured Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight to his home, where he kept them chained in the basement. In the decade that followed, the three were raped, psychologically abused, and threatened with death. Berry bore a child—Jocelyn—by their captor.

Drawing upon their recollections and the diaries they kept, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus describe a tale of unimaginable torment, and Pulitzer Prize–winning Washington Post reporters Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan interweave the events within Castro’s house with the ongoing efforts to find the missing girls.

The full story behind the headlines—including shocking information never previously released—Hope is a harrowing yet inspiring chronicle of three women whose courage, ingenuity, and resourcefulness ultimately delivered them back to their lives and families.

Read by Jorjeana Marie, Marisol Ramirez and Arthur Morey.

MARY JORDON is a Washington Post journalist. KEVIN SULLIVAN is a senior correspondent for The Washington Post. Jordan and Sullivan are the authors of The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia’s Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail.