Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Non-fiction

You can’t even imagine: Review of The Polygamist’s Daughter by Anna LeBaron

A couple of weeks ago, I told a group of people that I was reading a book about a polygamist cult. (I had a good reason. Kind of.) And the reactions varied from disbelief to horrified.

That’s a little about how I felt about this memoir. Though The Polygamist’s Daughter by Anne LeBaron contains the kinds of stories you might see on a crime drama on television, this was her real-life childhood as the daughter of notorious polygamist Ervil LeBaron. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book through the Tyndale Blog Network. My opinion reflected in this review is not affected by that.)

If this was a novel, I would have found it thrilling. A page-turner. But because this actually happened to a child, I hovered between sadness and despair. Anna LeBaron recounts tales of last-minute moves from one state to another, leaving everything behind, being dropped off in Mexico to stay with other members of her father’s cult and having to sell things door-to-door to earn money for the family. She is often separated from her mother and rarely sees her father. She is surrounded by people who are related to her in some way. (The book begins: “At age nine, I had forty-nine siblings.) There are moments of peace and relative security, but much of her stories are full of longing for a normal life.

The good news of Anna’s story is that she is now a living, breathing picture of the redemptive work of God. She found family and Jesus and monogamy. She was even able to reconnect with some of her larger extended family in adulthood.   Hers is an incredible story, yes. It’s also one of hope. Though she grew up one of many children, overlooked and forgotten, she became a woman known and loved by God.

It is not an easy read, especially if you have young children and can’t imagine dropping them off in another country and leaving them in the care of virtual strangers. But it’s a worthwhile read to know that no matter how awful life’s circumstances, God can work with them and in them to bring about something beautiful.

Telling this story is so brave. And it’s so necessary. Don’t let it scare you to read about Anna’s life.

What if you could be more you?: Review of Loveable by Kelly Flanagan

I make it no secret how much I love to read, and though I cannot guarantee that my tastes in books will align with yours, I generally try to review and recommend only books that are worth your time. You can be mostly assured that if a book makes it to the review space on my blog, then it’s been worth my time.

Even then, there is the rare book that rises above the worth-your-time category and rests firmly in the you-must-read category.

Loveable is one of those books.

First, a couple of things you need to know:

  1. I received an advance copy of the book from the author and my opinions in this review were not influenced by that act.
  2. I went to grade school, middle school and high school with the author which means I am as excited for the release of his debut book as I would be my own. True story.
  3. Kelly is a psychologist with an eye for the divine in the world. His blog posts are some of my favorites. You might have even seen him on the Today show because one of his posts went viral.

Now, the book. What I’m about to say is rare:

You NEED to read this book.

About once a year, I read a book that I consider a must-read, and if I consider it a must-read, then I can’t stop talking about it or recommending it. Just recently, I recommended a book I read three years ago and can’t forget. Last year, I attended a writing conference for the first time so I could tell the author who was the keynote speaker how much one of his books changed me. If I consider a book must-read, I am practically evangelistic about it. (Annoyingly so, I know.)

If I could only recommend one book this year, it would be Loveable. And yeah, I understand that it’s only March. But what Kelly has to say here is not just important. It’s life-changing.

I have a lot of favorite lines in this book, so I won’t list them all here. But I do want you to get a sense for what the book is about and what it can do for your soul.

This was one of the first lines to speak to me:

From there, Kelly leads us through three acts of this play we call life: Worthiness, Belonging and Purpose. And he reminds us that this is not a linear, straightforward climb up a mountain. It’s more like circling the mountain on the way to the top. We will likely cycle through these three acts more than once in life.

It’s a beautiful journey. By first recognizing our worth and then reaching out to others, pursuing our passions (i.e. finding our purpose) becomes more meaningful because it is deeply rooted in a confident sense of who we are and have always been

Kelly speaks often of the Little One inside all of us, and I will admit that at first that seems awkward. But, when we examine our wounds and the needs we have, it’s not hard to accept that there’s a Little One who needs to know he or she is loved and accepted. (Fair warning: you might need to read with a box of tissues in one hand and the phone number of a good therapist in the other.)

To get the most out of this book, read with your heart and mind open to the possibility of a changed life. And while Kelly is a professing Christian, this book is accessible to those who might not share that belief.

Have I convinced you? If not, then hop on over to Ann Voskamp’s blog and read an excerpt from the book. Then decide. I hope you will say yes for you.

P.S. In case you’re curious, the other books I almost always recommend as must-reads are Outlaw by Ted Dekker and Sleeping in Eden by Nicole Baart. Both fiction.