Member of the Family, Dianne Lake
Member of the Family, Dianne Lake
15 Rating(s)
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
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Member of the Family
My Story of Charles Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness that Ended the Sixties

Author: Dianne Lake, Deborah Herman

Narrator: Dianne Lake

Unabridged: 12 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 10/24/2017


Synopsis

In this poignant and disturbing memoir of lost innocence, coercion, survival, and healing, Dianne Lake chronicles her years with Charles Manson, revealing for the first time how she became the youngest member of his Family and offering new insights into one of the twentieth century’s most notorious criminals and life as one of his ""girls.""At age fourteen Dianne Lake—with little more than a note in her pocket from her hippie parents granting her permission to leave them—became one of ""Charlie’s girls,"" a devoted acolyte of cult leader Charles Manson. Over the course of two years, the impressionable teenager endured manipulation, psychological control, and physical abuse as the harsh realities and looming darkness of Charles Manson’s true nature revealed itself. From Spahn ranch and the group acid trips, to the Beatles’ White Album and Manson’s dangerous messiah-complex, Dianne tells the riveting story of the group’s descent into madness as she lived it.Though she never participated in any of the group’s gruesome crimes and was purposely insulated from them, Dianne was arrested with the rest of the Manson Family, and eventually learned enough to join the prosecution’s case against them. With the help of good Samaritans, including the cop who first arrested her and later adopted her, the courageous young woman eventually found redemption and grew up to lead an ordinary life.While much has been written about Charles Manson, this riveting account from an actual Family member is a chilling portrait that recreates in vivid detail one of the most horrifying and fascinating chapters in modern American history.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Miriam on March 08, 2018

At 14 I became one of Charles Manson's girls. At 17 I helped put him in prison'...... "Member of the Family - Manson, Murder and Me" is the true story of Charles Manson, one of the 20th Century's most notorious criminal figures - of life inside his cult, the group's descent into madness and the darkn......more

Goodreads review by Amy on December 27, 2017

What a harrowing, sad and compelling read this was, Dianne Lake was the youngest member of Charles Manson’s Family and she goes into great detail revealing the three years she spent as a member of one of the most notorious cults in the world. Since she was just a child during her time with Manson th......more

Goodreads review by Ellen Gail on August 10, 2018

First things first: MAJOR FUCKTON TRIGGER WARNING I don't usually talk about potential triggers in books when I review, but I'm making an exception for this one. If you decide to read this, be prepared for extensive and frequent descriptions of the manipulation, sexual assault, and rape of a 14 year......more

Goodreads review by Sophie – on semi-hiatus✌ on January 08, 2023

A fascinating, real-life companion piece to Emma Cline's The Girls. I found this a riveting read. Not just for the insight into Lake’s time spent as part of the Manson family or how a young girl – or anyone for that matter – can get sucked and manipulated into a dangerous cult. But also for its depi......more

Goodreads review by Jacqie on January 20, 2021

I picked this book up for my new series on YouTube called Reading Recs Sent by You (watch the reading vlog HERE: [URL not allowed]). My friend Penny recommended this book and I was already in love with it only 78 pages in. I loved the 60s vibes and all the stories about the hippies having......more