strangely uplifting true story of Sarah HamiltonByrne's chilling life within a dangerous cult, the madwoman who controlled her life, and her eventual escape.
Three and a half, A fascinating insight into life growing up in a cult, this is at times a disturbing read that lays bare the the cruel ties that can bind families to each other.
Sarah HamiltonByrne grew up in the infamous Melbourne Australia based cult known as The Family, Her heartbreaking insights into a childhood filled with horrors, dominated by a charismatic woman who convinced others that she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ yes, really is
searing in its honesty.
HamiltonByrne tells her readers that there are many gaps in her childhood memories, mostly induced by the drug taking regime they were forced to endure.
Her descriptions of the LSD taking rituals she went through as a teenager are harrowing, All of this book is harrowing, The cruelties HamiltonByrne and others who were raised as her brothers and sisters are difficult to read about, not only because of the pain and suffering the children endured but because of the blind stupidity of the adults who were complicit in the crimes, all in the name of "religion".
Yet HamiltonByrne refused to be a victim, As messed up as her life was, she was able to find a way out with the help of loving, supporting people who opened their hearts and homes to her.
The key message of this book for me was that although there are people in this world who will do anything for power and money, including destroying childhoods, there are many more who will fight to give survivors a safe path forward.
Although it's let down by the writing at times, this is an excellent, firsthand insight into life in a religious cult.
It's a heartbreaking read with a hopeful ending, Sadly that hope proved fleeting, Sarah went on to become a doctor and spent a lot of time overseas in places like India doing voluntary work.
She also had her own practice and set up a charity to help poor in places like India receive healthcare.
Unfortunately she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and after a suicide attempt that went wrong she had to have a leg amputated.
This caused her excruciating pain phantom limb syndrome and she became addicted to pethidine and eventually was charged with writing illegal scripts for the drug.
Not long after this she began to visit the aged Anne HamiltonByrne in order to make some sense of her past.
She eventually began to follow and Eastern religion and seemed to find peace within it, Sadly Sarah passed away in May, RiP, Sarah.
This cult still exists and still has quite a few followers who continue to believe that Anne HamiltonByrne is their god.
A bit repetitious, but an interesting insight into The Family, I dont think you can read this book with out breaking your heart over the way these children were treated.
It seems impossible that this extent of child abuse could continue for so many years without being brought through the authorities.
It is almost unbelievable and certainly unbearable that adults can be so vulnerable and needy that they can think that beating, starving and half drowning children is an acceptable form of raising them.
Just because one woman said it is,
Books like this are hard to read but important because they educate us to what is possible and to stand up for injustice when we see it.
I wish things had been better for Sarah, and I am terribly sorry her life ended the way it did.
Im glad she was able to find some patches of happiness and purpose in her time, I just wish it had been different.
Vale Sarah. .