lizahoka 's review for:

The True Happiness Company: A Memoir by Veena Dinavahi
challenging dark emotional slow-paced
How could you not be tempted by a book whose subtitle is “How a girl like me falls for a cult like that”?

This is Veena Dinavahi’s memoir. We meet her as a deeply depressed teenager in a well-off town that hasa long history of teen suicide. Her parents in a desperate attempt to save her life take Veena to a counselor in Georgia who becomes deeply entertwined in her life, influencing her education, her relationships, her decision to have children, and her religion. There are times you want to reach through the pages and shake her a little bit to help her see how harmful this man is, but it isn’t until many years in that Veena is able to recognize that she needs to free herself. She shares how difficult extricating herself from this is, and how challenging it is to trust yourself again after being taught that you couldn’t. 

The conclusion is very conclusion-y- lots of life lessons wrapped up in the author’s well earned psychology degree, and I understand the desire to tie things up neatly, but I think this is where the book loses me a little- it feels a little more text booky and a little less like a memoir. 

If you’re expecting a fundamental LDS cult with long dressses and poofy braids, you won’t find it in this book, but it is a reminder that cults can and do exist among us. 

Many thanks to @netgalley for this ARC!


Expand filter menu Content Warnings