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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I became more and more fond of this book as we moved towards a the intimate family dynamics. The Aftermath was the best section.
This book is a memoir, written by Stott on behalf of her father, sharing their memories from their time as part of the exclusive Brethren cult in Brighton.
Whilst the story Stott has to share is fascinating, I found it slow to get into (the first third of the book is mostly a history lesson), and I felt it was lacking a little more personality, a lot of the events in the book are recounted as facts, glossing over the feelings of those involved and any deep reflection. Stott is a university professor, and I think this is perhaps where the problem with this book lies, it reads more like an essay than a compelling memoir. If you're interested in religion, sects, or the psychology of extremists, then pick this up and give it a read, but I'd skip over it if you're just looking for a lighthearted read.
Whilst the story Stott has to share is fascinating, I found it slow to get into (the first third of the book is mostly a history lesson), and I felt it was lacking a little more personality, a lot of the events in the book are recounted as facts, glossing over the feelings of those involved and any deep reflection. Stott is a university professor, and I think this is perhaps where the problem with this book lies, it reads more like an essay than a compelling memoir. If you're interested in religion, sects, or the psychology of extremists, then pick this up and give it a read, but I'd skip over it if you're just looking for a lighthearted read.
Listened to this on audio shortly after finishing Tara Westover’s ‘Educated’ which I loved. So I was expecting another memoir of growing up in a cult. This felt like a turgid dry history lesson for most of the time, with only a few interesting moments.
Perhaps it was the narrators voice, but there wasnt enough in it to make me try the print version. Disappointing.
Perhaps it was the narrators voice, but there wasnt enough in it to make me try the print version. Disappointing.
Am I alone in finding this a bit boring? It isn’t a long book but it took me a while to get though as I wasn’t particularly drawn to picking it up. I felt there was a bit too much emphasis on the mundane. I also feel the book was too heavily weighted on life after the family left the Brethren when I would have personally been more interested in a bit more of the history of the cult and her life growing up. It was very beautifully written but just by quite what I expected
Interesting but a bit too dry and factual for me to really enjoy.
Rebecca Stott’s father had been wanting to write a memoir about his family life. For generations, his family had been members of a Christian sect that had steadily got more fundamentalist. He could only brush the surface of the past though as every time he ventured deeper into his memories the mental anguish meant that he could not carry on. When he was dying, he tried to persuade her to help him.
Rebecca had grown up in this Brethren sect too, with its draconian rules about what the members could and mostly couldn’t do, she was constrained in almost every activity that a normal child would have taken part in. They attended school but were not allowed to participate in any activities other than the learning. It was cruel too, with long term members being ‘denounced’ for the most arbitrary of reasons. The sect imploded to a certain extent after a sex scandal involving the American leader of the sect, JT Junior.
Her family dropped out too after this event, but because the cult had been so suffocating the family so much, they all struggled to re-connect with the normal world. The messages and culture that the cult had delivered had permeated her entire being. They began to rebuild their lives in their own way, she rebelled a little, had a child, dabbled in drugs and even managed to go to university, shoplifted and was afraid of the dark, but couldn’t even begin to tell people why this was.
The book is divided into rough thirds, “Before,” “During” and “Aftermath”, which were the piles of files and effects that she sorted through of her fathers at the time. It is pretty horrific reading at times, in particular about the levels of control that were exercised over the members, and the utter trust they had in the leaders of the cult. Just decompressing from the grip of the cult took a staggering amount of effort for them all. It is a deeply personal book, thankfully Stott writes with integrity and doesn’t try to blame anyone for her earlier life. Well worth reading for those that want a very different biography and to get some insight as to when does faith become a cult?
Rebecca had grown up in this Brethren sect too, with its draconian rules about what the members could and mostly couldn’t do, she was constrained in almost every activity that a normal child would have taken part in. They attended school but were not allowed to participate in any activities other than the learning. It was cruel too, with long term members being ‘denounced’ for the most arbitrary of reasons. The sect imploded to a certain extent after a sex scandal involving the American leader of the sect, JT Junior.
Her family dropped out too after this event, but because the cult had been so suffocating the family so much, they all struggled to re-connect with the normal world. The messages and culture that the cult had delivered had permeated her entire being. They began to rebuild their lives in their own way, she rebelled a little, had a child, dabbled in drugs and even managed to go to university, shoplifted and was afraid of the dark, but couldn’t even begin to tell people why this was.
The book is divided into rough thirds, “Before,” “During” and “Aftermath”, which were the piles of files and effects that she sorted through of her fathers at the time. It is pretty horrific reading at times, in particular about the levels of control that were exercised over the members, and the utter trust they had in the leaders of the cult. Just decompressing from the grip of the cult took a staggering amount of effort for them all. It is a deeply personal book, thankfully Stott writes with integrity and doesn’t try to blame anyone for her earlier life. Well worth reading for those that want a very different biography and to get some insight as to when does faith become a cult?
A fabulous book. Rebecca has a lovely, balanced literary style. Fascinating story about a man, his daughter and the rest of their family living in the Exclusives and then escaping from them to the world. Learned lots about how men can corrupt the most beautiful things in life and how easy it is for people to follow. This book also inspired me to read Yeats for the first time: a gift I cannot thank Rebecca enough for. I must’ve read The Wild Swans At Coole over and over again in the last few days.
My one criticism is that Mrs Stott is ignored so much. She seems to just get on with life quietly in the background: her literary self reflecting her actual self. More information about her would have been nice.
My one criticism is that Mrs Stott is ignored so much. She seems to just get on with life quietly in the background: her literary self reflecting her actual self. More information about her would have been nice.
4* for the beautiful writing, 2.5 to 3* for the content which sidestepped a lot of the author's own experience of living in and 'decompressing' from the effects of being raised in a cult in favour of a much more impersonal (though fairly interesting) history.
This was certainly an interesting read but I'm in two minds about it.
Although I really enjoyed the parts that revolved around Rebecca and her father, the sections that delved more into the history of the Exclusive Brethren were very dry in my opinion. I went from being totally invested in Rebecca's life and the lives of her family, to being completely removed from the story as if I were reading a history textbook. It was very jarring. You would go from an incredibly intimate look into the life of this family to feeling utterly distant and like an outsider. It did help to illustrate the contrast between members of the Exclusive Brethren and "Worldies", but it could have been talked about less, in my opinion.
That being said, I still really enjoyed reading this book. I cried (a lot) and I learned about a cult which I had never heard about before. I thought it was very well written and insightful and would recommend listening to the audiobook as Rebecca herself narrates it.
Although I really enjoyed the parts that revolved around Rebecca and her father, the sections that delved more into the history of the Exclusive Brethren were very dry in my opinion. I went from being totally invested in Rebecca's life and the lives of her family, to being completely removed from the story as if I were reading a history textbook. It was very jarring. You would go from an incredibly intimate look into the life of this family to feeling utterly distant and like an outsider. It did help to illustrate the contrast between members of the Exclusive Brethren and "Worldies", but it could have been talked about less, in my opinion.
That being said, I still really enjoyed reading this book. I cried (a lot) and I learned about a cult which I had never heard about before. I thought it was very well written and insightful and would recommend listening to the audiobook as Rebecca herself narrates it.