About book Girl At The End Of The World: My Escape From Fundamentalism In Search Of Faith With A Future (2014)
I loved this book.Where the Wind Leads is the story of a family forced out of Vietnam in the aftermath of the Vietnam war. The first part of the book chronicles the life they abandoned when they fled and their harrowing journey as unwanted "boat people" in desperate search of a place to land.Then the story shifts. They are welcomed to a small town in Arkansas, and face the challenge of learning an entirely new culture. This is an especially strong section, as the author does a great job of detailing small cultural differences and how they add up to make communication and integration unexpectedly difficult.Then my favorite part is where he shares about being a nerdy high school kid trying to connect with a girl he's attracted to. These scenes are just so sweet and hapless, and they had me cheering for him and laughing at the same time. Also, they provide a nice balance to the intensity of the first part of the book. It was nice to see a child who almost didn't survive wrestling with everyday questions about what to say to a girl.The back cover of this book calls it "a story of personal sacrifice, redemption, endurance against almost insurmountable odds, and what it truly means to be American." Often, cover copy is hyperbole, but in this case the book more than delivers. I'm still thinking about this story days after turning the last page. Highly recommend.Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Starting your life with spankings and will breaking, is not normal. But, that is the only normal that Elizabeth knew. A life of street corner preaching as a child, and never saying no. When your whole world is a cult, and your family is in charge, how do you escape?Sadly the ways of the cult follow Elizabeth throughout her life. She experiences PTSD, flashbacks and depression. She cannot sit foot in a church without a major reaction. The fact that she manages to get married, have five children, and live a fairly normal life, is Amazing! This is a unique perspective of cult life. It is shocking and eye-opening, and very sad.
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About 50 pages in, just feels like a typical "I was in a cult and escaped" book. Not in the mood.
—Anthony
