Memoirs/books about leaving religious fundamentalism?

[Nerthe]

Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier by Tom Kizzia.

Read it this winter.. Some parts are really terrible to read and you really feel sorry for them. I think it was a really popular book last year.

[Gertie]

A couple I haven't read yet, but that are on my list:

Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religions by Susan Tive

Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult by Jayanti Tamm

[mrs]

Reminder, "Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future" is released tomorrow. I am looking forward to reading this book!

amazon.com/Girl-End-World-Escape-Fundamentalism-ebook/dp/B00FDS55VS/ref=sr_1_12?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395078871&sr=1-12&keywords=cult

[quiversR4hunting]

Lurker with first post – be gentle! books – I love to read and read about what makes people fall for cults.

Many have already mentioned these books but IMO, if you are interested in reading about Polygamy/FLDS I suggest starting with Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife - Irene Spencer because it gives background to the different names in the more current books. Also it will give insight in how things were before education was banned. Favorite Wife: Escape from Polygamy is a sister wife to Irene Spencer. Then I would suggest reading the more recent accounts and seeing things spiraled into the no education/big brother society they have now.

I have also read Lost Boy by Brent Jeffs. I read this book after many of the women’s stories (Escape, Stolen Innocence & the 2 mentioned previously) interesting to read a male’s perspective. Brent is the nephew of Warren Jeffs.

Several of the books about fundamentalist are on my list to read – thanks for the reading list!

[mockingbird]

I've read a few on here, definitely going to be checking others out!

My contribution is Waiting for the Apocalypse by Veronica Chater. Her dad was traditionalist Catholic and moved them all to Portugal. What the family went through is sad, but I remember it being a pretty funny book.

[yetanothermeg]

Ok, so I just went on to Amazon to order a couple of books people listed and I decided to do a search for cult memoirs and this popped up:

I Heard You Were in a Cult: My Days Under Bill Gothard by Caleb Backholm.

It is a .99 Kindle book only.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

Woohoo, my library history is about to get even more religified! Great thread idea! I don't think I've read any that haven't been mentioned.

[freethemall]

I'm reading Jenna Miscavige Hill's book right now, and otherwise have read the majority of your list - guess we all have similar book tastes around here!

Here's hoping that ATI/IBLP escape book comes soon...

[Stynjen]

I'm on the waiting list at the library for this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Cut-Me-Loose-Salv ... 038553809X

[mrs]

Ok, so I just went on to Amazon to order a couple of books people listed and I decided to do a search for cult memoirs and this popped up:

I Heard You Were in a Cult: My Days Under Bill Gothard by Caleb Backholm.

It is a .99 Kindle book only.

I routinely search "cult" on Amazon and have never seen this book. Thank you for posting! :D

[misslady]

This is a great thread.

My reaction on finishing Unorthodox was that I'd like to see her write again in about 20 years, when she's had a chance to get some more distance and work through/process stuff.

Ira Wagler, Growing Up Amish was ok but nothing new if you've read a few Amish novels.

Karen Armstrong, The Narrow Gate and The Spiral Staircase are very good if you're interested in the life of a pre-Vatican II nun (I liked The Spiral Staircase much better.)

[Palimpsest]

This is a great thread.

My reaction on finishing Unorthodox was that I'd like to see her write again in about 20 years, when she's had a chance to get some more distance and work through/process stuff.

Ira Wagler, Growing Up Amish was ok but nothing new if you've read a few Amish novels.

Karen Armstrong, The Narrow Gate and The Spiral Staircase are very good if you're interested in the life of a pre-Vatican II nun (I liked The Spiral Staircase much better.)

I agree that they are good, and I think The Spiral Staircase is the better book too. Some of her books on comparative religion are excellent too.

While we are talking about nuns: Monica Baldwin's I Leap Over the Wall is an oldie but a goodie.

Can I suggest that this thread gets pinned somewhere?

[lilwriter85]

Heads up in case anyone here is an Oyster app subscriber, the followings books are available on Oyster

Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall

Blown for Good by Marc Headley

I recently started subscribing to Oyster which is kind of like Netflix for ebooks. It's 9.95 a month and I do think it is worth it because some of their selection may not be available in libraries or they could be hard to find in brick and mortar stores. If I find any other fundie related books on the Oyster library I will post them here.

[mrs]

I just wanted to mention, I found another memior about a young woman leaving fundamentalism. It is called "Crooked Cross: A Journey Out of Religious Abuse."

[bea]

The Jon Krakauer book (Under The Banner Of Heaven) led me to a bunch of Mormon housewife blogs, which led me to fundie housewife blogs....which eventually led me to Free Jinger. Thanks, Jon.

It's also a fascinating, well-written account of one family descending into a Mormon fundamentalist cult and the murders that resulted, when one brother resisted joining the rest of the family. It gives a terrific background on Mormonism and the various fundamentalist offshoots for those unfamiliar with the religion - I knew nothing about the LDS before reading this book eight or nine years ago, and learned a great deal.

[divadivine]

I routinely search "cult" on Amazon and have never seen this book. Thank you for posting! :D

I Heard You Were in a Cult is free on iBooks. Just downloaded it. I'm off to read!

[divadivine]

I Heard You Were in a Cult is free on iBooks. Just downloaded it. I'm off to read!

I just finished the "book". It was 31 pages long. Not worth 99 cents. The guy couldn't remember people's names or lots of details. No good fundy secrets. Two thumbs way down.