Marina Chapman

When I decided to read this book, I did some research to see if the author’s story could possibly be true. Apparently it is. A couple of corrections: first, Marina Chapman wasn’t really “raised” by monkeys. However, apparently she did live among monkeys for up to five years. I say “up to” because she really doesn’t know how much time transpired while she was in the Rain Forest in Colombia. As to the truthfulness of Chapman’s story, tests have been done which show that she experienced malnutrition during the approximate years she was in the forest. Only about 1/3 of the book actually covers those five years, and the rest of her story is not as dramatic but is certainly heart wrenching. Those years include abusive home after abusive home with time on the streets in between where Chapman became a professional scavenger and thief. If not for a couple of women in her life, chances are pretty certain that Chapman wouldn’t have survived the gang-ridden streets of Colombia. Overall, the story is engaging and well worth the time investment.… (mer)

Marina Chapman doesn't know her parents or real name. She has a few fleeting images of her early childhood before the day she was (apparently) kidnapped...and ultimately dumped in the Colombian rain forest. The first half of the book concerns the five or so years she spent here: the loneliness, the weird flora and fauna...and ultimately becoming a sort of fringe member of a group of monkeys. Following their foraging skills, they became her closest friends, as she avoided the hunters who occasionally came here. And yet a yearning for humans persisted; attempts to befriend a local tribe were immediately rebuffed. But one day she took a risk and tagged along with a couple of seemingly more friendly hunters...
Here begins the second part, as she undertakes life as more of a monkey than a child. Filthy, unable to speak, she finds herself sold off to a brothel owner and moves on to life as a street child, servant to a violent gang, and raised by nuns. Before the one trustworthy human she meets arranges something better...
This is ghost-written and while OK, it's not great literature, but the story is so unusual that I kept on reading.… (mer)