Short description
The captivity narrative survives in Wilson's account of her 25 years in what she calls the seductive cultlike religious group. Rather than challenging any of its religious tenets, she describes women's issues, her vulnerability to its enticements, abuses she experienced trying to escape, and the heroic rescue by her psychologist. Annotation c. Book
Long description
This tale of mind control, the use of fear to manipulate vulnerable people, and final escape from a suffocating cult environment is a revealing expose of a secretive contemporary sect, as well as a true psychological thriller. Diane Wilson spent twenty-five precious years of her life, first becoming indoctrinated by the dogma of the Watchtower Society, and then struggling to free herself from its pervasive, intimidating clutches. In this probing, brutally honest assessment, Wilson describes how a childhood of psychological abuse and lack of self-confidence rendered her vulnerable to the seductive doctrines of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Yet as time went on and the society demanded rigid control over every aspect of her life, even her every thought, Wilson began to rebel. Her gradual awakening, at first unconsciously through physical and psychological ailments, and then consciously as a caring therapist helped her rediscover her true self, is a fascinating story.