Author, activist Elizabeth Smart to deliver message of hope in Homewood

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Elizabeth Smart

The New York Times bestselling author and survivor of one of the most followed child abduction cases of our time Elizabeth Smart is coming to Homewood, Ala. next month to speak as part of her book tour featuring her newest book, “Where There’s Hope.”

At the event she will sign copies of her most recent book, share her inspiring message of hope and life after sexual trauma, and hold a Q&A session.

After surviving the unimaginable terror of being kidnapped and held captive for nine months, the road to recovery is one that Smart has walked since her abduction in 2002. Now, 16 years later, Smart, now a mother, world-traveler, successful author and president of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, is continuously asked how she finds the hope to go on.

In her new book, she revisits the horror she endured and the hard-won lessons she learned to provide answers. The heartfelt how-to guide for making peace with the past and embracing the future offers an intimate glimpse into Smart’s healing process and support system, while excerpting conversations with well-known figures such as Anne Romney, Diane von Furstenburg, Mandy Patinkin, Archbishop John C. Wester and Elder Richard Hinckley.

“I was not willing to accept that my fate was to live unhappily ever after,” Smart reflects in her new book. “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.”

The event will take place Tuesday, April 3 at 7 p.m. at Books-A-Million in Brookwood Village’s Center Court located at 780 Brookwood Village.

To attend, guests must purchase an Eventbrite ticket in advance by visiting elizabethsmart.eventbrite.com. Each ticket will include a copy of Smart’s new book “Where There’s Hope,” as well as admittance to the talk and presentation.

Smart’s visit to the Yellowhammer State is timely as the state continues to battle human trafficking. Alabaster-Republican State Sen. Cam Ward introduced SB179, earlier this year to enhance the criminal penalties for obstructing the enforcement of the human trafficking laws in Alabama.

At least 36 human trafficking cases were reported in the Yellowhammer State in 2017. The National Human Trafficking Hotline also reports more than 184 victims of human trafficking in Alabama have called its hotline for help this year (that’s up a whopping 73 calls  from the time we first wrote about the bill mid-January.)

In fact, the stretch of I-20 between Atlanta and Birmingham is known as the Sex Trafficking Superhighway. With little time remaining in the 2018 legislative session, news of Smart’s visit may be the motivation state lawmakers need to tackle the bill.