Publication Date: September
20, 2022
Format: Audio
Genre: Memoir
Narrators: Daniella Mestyanek Young
|
Publisher: Macmillan
Audio
Length: 13
hours 49 min
Buy: Kindle | Audio
|
Synopsis
Behind the tall, foreboding gates of a commune in Brazil, Daniella
Mestyanek Young was raised in the religious cult The Children of God, also
known as The Family, as the daughter of high-ranking members. Her
great-grandmother donated land for one of The Family’s first communes in
Texas. Her mother, at thirteen, was forced to marry the leader and served
as his secretary for many years. Beholden to The Family’s strict rules,
Daniella suffers physical, emotional, and sexual abuse—masked as godly discipline and divine love—and is forbidden from getting a traditional education.
At fifteen years old, fed up with
The Family and determined to build a better and freer life for herself,
Daniella escapes to Texas. There, she bravely enrolls herself in high
school and excels, later graduating as valedictorian of her college class,
then electing to join the military to begin a career as an intelligence
officer, where she believes she will finally belong.
But she soon learns that her new
world—surrounded by men on the sands of Afghanistan—looks remarkably similar to the one she desperately tried to leave
behind.
Told in a beautiful, propulsive voice and with clear-eyed
honesty, Uncultured explores the dangers unleashed when harmful group mentality goes
unrecognized, and is emblematic of the many ways women have to contort
themselves to survive.
Review:
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through
netgalley.com. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Wow this book is tough. Born into one of the most famous cults,
Daniella grew up in the Children of God missionary. She lived in
several countries, Brazil, Mexico and the United States but never really
fit in anywhere. Children of God was a sex cult where sex was an act
of worship, children were beaten often and sex with children wasn't
expressly forbidden until they were questioned by authorities as to why a
13 year old was pregnant.
Daniella's parents and her 14 siblings eventually left the children of God
but Daniella left first at the age of 16. She made her way through high
school with little to no prior education and went on to college. She
never felt that she quite fit anywhere, eventually joining the military.
Here she felt more at home since it is run similar to the way she was
raised. Don't question, don't make waves or else you get punished. Its
a group think.
Just like the Children of God the Military proved to Daniella another place
where she had to conform to standards set by men and navigate around them.
Women in the Cult were always considered less than and it was the same
within the military. Even as she made her way through the ranks as an
officer and served in Afghanistan she found that women and men had different
standards and codes of conduct. Women were often told to be careful of
being raped but the men weren't told not to rape women. This double standard
that stems from these patriarchal systems is difficult to navigate and
ultimately systems will suffer for it.
I really liked this book and Daniella tells this story in a compassionate
and strong voice. She doesn't hide the ugliness of the way she was
raised, and she doesn't hide the faults in our military. What does come
across loud and clear is how strong and inspirational Daniella is.
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