I Survived by Victoria Cilliers

I Survived: A True Story by Victoria Cilliers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 288

Publisher - Pan

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

A chilling, eye-opening story of marriage and attempted murder, revealing the truth about a case that made headlines around the world.

On Easter Sunday 2015, experienced skydiver Victoria Cilliers undertook a parachute jump, a gift from her husband, British army sergeant Emile Cilliers. Her parachutes failed to open and she plummeted 4,000 feet to the ground, sustaining life-threatening injuries. Miraculously, she survived. Then the police arrived at her door. Someone had tampered with her parachute and they suspected Emile.

In I Survived Victoria describes how she fell for Emile, and how the charming man she thought she knew gradually revealed a darker side, chipping away at her self-worth until she found it impossible to sift truth from lies. Can she really believe that her husband – the father of their two young children – tried to kill her? As more shocking revelations come to light, and she has to face his trial and relentless media scrutiny, she struggles to come to terms with the past. Even a guilty verdict does not free her because Emile is not ready to let her go . . .

Powerful and honest, I Survived is the story of a woman who was put through hell and yet found the strength to forge a new life for herself and her children.



My review

I remember seeing this in the news, a husband tried to kill his wife by a rather unusual means AND for her to survive. This is Victoria's story, her life, career choices, her relationship before she met Emile and after the attempted murder.

The book will be very hard going for some readers, the gaslighting is absolutely shocking and even after the attempt it continues and his hole over her. It made for tough going, to see how he controlled, manipulated and hurt her (non physical before the attempt). I got so mad at some of her choices and allowance of behaviours. That said I understand it was because of the control, depending on your background you will experience a range of emotions and reactions to her choices/decisions.

It makes for an interesting and shocking read, survival, abuse, hope, personal journey, 4/5 for me this time.

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