Leaving the Saints: One Child's Story of Survival and Hope - Hardcover

In a thoughtful, moving, and ultimately inspiring memoir, bestselling author Martha Beck chronicles her difficult decision to leave behind her Mormon childhood and upbringing, and reveals her lifetime struggle to overcome a dark secret buried in her childhood. While growing up as 'Mormon royalty' within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Martha Beck was raised in a home frequented by the church's high elders - known as the Apostles - and her existence was framed by their strict code of conduct. When her son was born with Down syndrome, she and her husband left their graduate programmes at Harvard to return to Provo, Utah, and the supportive Mormon community of Martha's youth. But after Martha began teaching at Brigham Young University, she saw at firsthand the church's ruthlessness as it silenced dissidents and masked truths that contradicted its beliefs. Most troubling of all, Martha was Jolted into recovering memories of sexual abuse at the hands of one of the church's most respected leaders. Filled with great insight and Martha Beck's celebrated humour and entertaining wit, Leaving the Saints is an unforgettable autobiography that offers a rare glimpse inside one of the world's most secretive religions while telling a profoundly moving story of personal courage, survival, and the transformative power of spirituality.