

Reclaiming My Decade Lost in Scientology
A Memoir
Author: Sands Hall
Narrator: Sands Hall
Unabridged: 12 hr 24 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Published: 03/13/2018
Author: Sands Hall
Narrator: Sands Hall
Unabridged: 12 hr 24 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Published: 03/13/2018
Sands Hall is the author of the novel Catching Heaven, a WILLA Award Finalist for Best Contemporary Fiction, and a Random House Reader’s Circle selection; and of a book of writing essays and exercises, Tools of the Writer’s Craft. She she leads workshops and lectures for such conferences as the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, and is professor emeritus, Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
I've read a lot about Scientology (maybe...too much about Scientology?) but this is the first thing I've read that made me understand how a basically #normal person might become a Scientologist. Also it's beautifully written and expresses a lot of very #relatable #ennui . I'd recommend it to anyone......more
Whenever I give memoirs lower ratings I feel like I have to mention that I'm rating the book, not the author's lived experience. So this book, it had very little to do with Scientology. Sometimes I don't mind this, if the rest is interesting, but sadly it wasn't (to me, it might be to someone else).......more
I don't have time to give this book the review it deserves. I got it for free and didn't expect much, but it ended up being a spectacular tour of scientology-- how someone could easily be drawn in, how it controlled their life, and what it was like getting out. Excellent writing, addictive, great bo......more
Sands Halls was raised as an atheist. Her father was a successful author and her mother was a homemaker and ex-Christian Scientist. She was raised to believe that religion was for "Republicans" however her father seemed drawn to spirituality. Sands' had an older brother and two younger sisters. She......more
The subject of cults is a fascinating one. Extreme religious groups tend to get their hooks into people at points in their lives in which they are most vulnerable, such as a major life upheaval or tragedy. Sands Hall writes of her own experience in Scientology and the reasons she, with much difficul......more
“It is no surprise when, after a few encounters with Scientology…Hall begins to feel its pull. And if it is Scientology’s offer of a life with meaning that hauls her in… it is its approach to meaning that keeps her.”
Times Literary Supplement“Some of the most penetrating, illuminating prose about how an educated and skeptical person could get so deeply into, and then struggle to escape, what everyone around her warned was a dangerous cult.”
Underground Bunker“A beautiful memoir…What sets this account apart from so many recent ‘leaving Scientology’ narratives is that the author has no ax to grind…An early candidate for memoir of the year, this is a thrilling story of one woman’s search for truth and her place in the world.”
Library Journal (starred review)“[An] impassioned, wonderfully constructed memoir…Hall reflects with brutal honesty on her decisions throughout this meticulously crafted book, which explores her negative experiences with Scientology and how her desire to please led her to believe in the unbelievable.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)"An intriguing, beautifully written memoir…She toggles between her family and the church, digging deeply into the dynamics of power and control, love and compassion, before coming to a surprising resolution.”
Literary Hub“A memoir of a life filled with joy and tragedy, and readers will appreciate the author’s candor.”
Booklist“A significant behind-the-scenes look at this cultlike religion. Frank and edifying information on Scientology from a woman who experienced it firsthand.”
Kirkus Reviews“In this unflinching and nuanced self-portrait, Sands Hall examines a decade of entanglement with the cult of Scientology and her circuitous process of liberation.”
Elizabeth Rosner, author of Survivor Café“A vivid portrait of how we find a place in our family and find a path through chaos…It is a triumph, a work of great honesty and insight.”
Karen E. Bender, author of Refund