fathermothergod: My Journey Out of Christian Science

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fathermothergod: My Journey Out of Christian Science

by Lucia Greenhouse (Goodreads Author)

3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 · rating details · 866 ratings · 227 reviews

Lucia Ewing had what looked like an all-American childhood. She lived with her mother, father, sister, and brother in an affluent suburb of Minneapolis, where they enjoyed private schools, sleep-away camps, a country club membership, and skiing vacations. Surrounded by a tight-knit extended family, and doted upon by her parents, Lucia had no doubt she was loved and cared f...more

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published August 9th 2011 by Crown (first published January 1st 2011)

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Nov 21, 2011 Mel rated it 5 of 5 stars

After reading a fair number of losing-my-religion memoirs, I picked up this book with lukewarm expectations. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that, subject matter aside, Greenhouse's book kept me turning pages well into the night. Her narrative begins a tad slowly, skipping through her childhood and adolescence with well-written scenes of her own indoctrination. (Some readers will probably complain that she included too many doctrinal explanations, while others will wish for more. I'...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Sally Wessely rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir

I loved this book. I could not stop thinking about it while I was reading it, nor could I forget parts of it after I finished the book. I have a dear friend who grew up Christian Science and left it during college. When I met her, she was actually still in Christian Science, and I was her roommate as she left it. Over the years, she told me many stories about the experience and the beliefs of Christian Scientists. Everything she told me rang true with what Lucia Greenhouse had to say.

First of al...more I loved this book. I could not stop thinking about it while I was reading it, nor could I forget parts of it after I finished the book. I have a dear friend who grew up Christian Science and left it during college. When I met her, she was actually still in Christian Science, and I was her roommate as she left it. Over the years, she told me many stories about the experience and the beliefs of Christian Scientists. Everything she told me rang true with what Lucia Greenhouse had to say.

First of all, I admire Lucia's courage in writing and publishing this book. Leaving a cult is never an easy thing to do. Once one is a part of a cult, whether because they were born into it or converted to it, it is never easy to leave. The cult leaves many scars, and its tentacles intertwine with nearly every facet of life. A cult experience impacts not only the member of the cult, but also other family members who must deal with the cult's insidious spread of influence and control over the life of the cult member and his or her children or grandchildren. It takes great courage to write about the cult experience and its impact on one's life and on the lives of the one the cult member loves most.

Virtually every member of Lucia's family, her siblings, her aunts and uncles, her grandparents, her cousins, her friends, we impacted by the decisions made by her parents to not only join Christian Science but to also apply its tenants to their lives.

This book is heartbreaking to read. Thankfully, Lucia was able to break free of the cult mind control that caused her to stay in denial during her mother's illness. Thankfully, she took the time to work through the disastrous outcomes that impacted her life because of decisions made by others who were locked in a religion that exerts such control over the minds of its followers.

I'm sure her decision to publish the book has been freeing to her. I applaud her, her writing style, and her truthfulness in telling her story as she remembered it and as she interpreted its meaning to her own life. (less)

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Jul 12, 2011 Gere Lewis rated it 5 of 5 stars

I always believed that every person was entitled to their own beliefs. This book challenged this belief and ultimately forced me to alter it. I now believe that each person is entitled to their own beliefs provided that those beliefs do not harm anyone else. Had I lived this author's life, I don't know if I could have survived it. I have nothing but respect for how difficult and painful it must have been to write this memoir. I have deep admiration for the author's strength and courage. I read t...more

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May 23, 2011 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-mt-bookpile

Professional review to follow

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Nov 05, 2011 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Warning: I also have had a journey out of Christian Science, so I'm a different kind of reader than the general population. What I have to say is that there is much that is familiar in this tale, and some that is different. I started reading this because my sisters are running it through the sibling group. I expect we will have much to share about our individual reactions and how we dealt with our own parents' final illnesses and passing.

But I can say this to non-CS folks who pick it up: the ea...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book's perspective. Unlike Jon Krakauer's book "Under the Banner of Heaven", this book was written with the insight of somebody raised under a Christian Science roof.
Part 1: the basic principles of CS and their culture
Part 2: mom gets sick and the family tries to cope with her illness via CS, which amounts to only prayer and no acknowledging her illness
Part 3: fifteen years later, the author's life after CS and her dilemma about whether to publish her story or not

I liked re...more

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Dec 28, 2011 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Why do I read? For me it is about engaging characters – to expand my mind – to see something from another view. This book did all of those things for me. I purchased this book at a luncheon where the author (Lucia Greenhouse) was the speaker. I was not at the luncheon to see the author – but to support an organization. I was pretty sure the book was not even for me. Then the author spoke and she had a way about her that made me very interested in her book. If I were to put one word on my impress...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Whitney rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was one of those wow books for me. I can really feel that Greenhouse put years and a lot of deep thought into this book because it is really well laid out and well rounded. It is clearly biased against Christian Science, but that is pretty much the point of this memoir. I am most impressed with part two where she outlines her mother's illness and how all of the events occurred. It really starts to feel repetitive and like it goes on forever which is exactly how Greenhouse wanted it to read...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Michelle Robinson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: autobigraphical, cults, sad, compelling-topic

This review has spoilers.

This was a hard but worthwhile read. I have never known much about Christian Science it was a religion completely alien to me.

I found her experience interesting but not novel, even thought the cult was different, for some reason I thought the focus on this dogmatic ideology reminded me, in some ways of the the author of the autobiography, Cartwheels In a Sari.

I was really bothered by the way the author was able to accuse her mother so openly and viciously in the hospit...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Kayt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

The title caught my eye as I was browsing the library, but the author never really belonged to Christian Science, so she herself couldn't really leave it.

Christian Scientists, I found out, don't believe in medical treatment because illness indicates error or weakness, and as God's perfect creation we cannot have that. A great deal--most of the book, actually--dealt with this aspect of things: character is sick or hurt, and so everyone does the best they can to alleviate it without actually ackno...more

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Nov 17, 2011 Catherine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs

I like to think that competent adults should be allowed to make their own decisions, but this book hit me over the head with how complicated it is to define competency.

In Part 1, the author describes her upbringing in the Christian Science faith. As Lucia’s father achieved prominence as a Practitioner, the family moved frequently and the children were sent away to various boarding schools. Lucia seemed to question her parents’ beliefs by the time she was a teenager; she and her brother and sist...more I like to think that competent adults should be allowed to make their own decisions, but this book hit me over the head with how complicated it is to define competency.

In Part 1, the author describes her upbringing in the Christian Science faith. As Lucia’s father achieved prominence as a Practitioner, the family moved frequently and the children were sent away to various boarding schools. Lucia seemed to question her parents’ beliefs by the time she was a teenager; she and her brother and sister rejected these beliefs before reaching adulthood. It would have been interesting to read about the decision process, but it wasn’t covered at all. An important part of this story is that neither of Lucia’s parents was raised as Christian Scientists; none of their relatives belonged to the religion.

The second part of the book takes place when Lucia is in her twenties and her mother becomes ill. One of the tenets of the religion is that humans are perfect and thus illness is not real: it’s simply a lack of faith making you think you’re sick. As Lucia’s mother grows increasingly frail, both parents continue to deny that anything is wrong. Eventually she goes to stay in a Christian Science facility - essentially a hospital where the main treatment is prayer. Lucia and her siblings are gradually frozen out by their parents. Although they are terrified for their mother, they lie to her family at their father’s behest. No one is willing to step up and break the chain until the mother finally asks for help.

This was an incredibly frustrating book to read. Several times I had to put it aside for a day when I became infuriated at the hypocrisy, denial, and cruelty by Lucia’s parents, especially her father – all in the name of God.

Part 3 picks up 20 years later when Lucia visits family members to tell them she has written a book about the experience. She writes candidly about her regrets and the toll the lies and isolation took on the immediate family as well as the extended one. The passage of time permits everyone to revisit the past objectively and ameliorate some of the misconceptions about their actions and emotions. This is a fascinating story.
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Oct 24, 2011 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars

I got this because it looked really interesting, and then I hesitated to read it because we all know that insights on a religion written by a "former member" of a religion are incredibly biased at best. But, I guess my curiosity got the best of me because I picked it up and started reading and couldn't put it down. It was a very interesting look into a religion that I didn't know much about (Christian Science...no modern medicine, not even aspirin, and they believe that illness isn't real, that...more

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Oct 11, 2011 Hava rated it 3 of 5 stars

I just finished this book, and I feel...conflicted, I guess, is a good way to put it.

I picked it up because of the subtitle - "My journey out of Christian Science." First off, I have never known much about Christian Science - all I knew is that they were a more extreme version of the Christian religion. So I thought this would be a great way to learn more about it. Second, three years ago, I worked extremely hard to leave an "extreme" Christian religion myself (obviously not the Christian Scien...more I just finished this book, and I feel...conflicted, I guess, is a good way to put it.

I picked it up because of the subtitle - "My journey out of Christian Science." First off, I have never known much about Christian Science - all I knew is that they were a more extreme version of the Christian religion. So I thought this would be a great way to learn more about it. Second, three years ago, I worked extremely hard to leave an "extreme" Christian religion myself (obviously not the Christian Science religion, but the same kind of concept). So naturally, I am drawn to religious memoirs where the main character struggles with faith and with making the decision to leave their religion behind.

Except, that's not what happened here. For reasons that Lucia never makes clear, she never really believed in the Christian Science religion. Although both of her parents belonged to the religion, she never joined herself, and she stopped reading the lessons at age 16 (something she says later in the book when reflecting back on this time). But that's all she really says. She never explores why she didn't believe - most children naturally believe the religion their parents believe in. So why doesn't Lucia?

And because she never joined the religion and never really seemed to believe it, the subtitle is then incongruous - you can't leave something you never joined. Instead, this is a memoir about watching her mother choose Christian Science over modern medicine, and how this choice was extremely difficult for Lucia to live with, especially when it came to the fact that her parents were also asking her to keep the illness a secret from virtually all extended family members. This book would have more accurately been subtitled, "The years I spent watching my mother kill herself because she refused medical treatment" or some such thing. Except, perhaps, that wouldn't have sold as many books...who knows.

I guess I was looking for a Christian Science version of my life - first, a true and utter belief in the religion you are brought up in, then slowly an awakening to the fact that your beliefs cannot possibly be true, and eventually a painful tearing away from the old religion and a beautiful new life without that religion. Instead, I got this messy memoir where Lucia never believed to begin with, and therefore had no inner religious struggle to decide whether or not to believe that the Christian Science way of life was correct.

It was good - it just wasn't great. And I know a little more than I did before about the Christian Science religion, but not as much as I had hoped to learn.(less)

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Sep 21, 2011 Barbara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs-and-autobiographies

This was a book I could not put down. Like Kathryn whose review is before mine, I was raised in Christian Science. We actually went to Sunday school together, but my mother was very like Greenhouse's father. Although not a teacher, she had attended the classes and went each year to her Association. I too wanted to hear about the religion and I did learn a few things, but more I wanted to hear how my experience matched that of the writer. Did we see things the same way? Did she have the same fear...more

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Sep 05, 2011 K2 ----- rated it 4 of 5 stars

Compellingly written, Lucia Greenhouse takes a complex topic and tells a candid story of her family's history as she sees it.

Raised in an affluent Christian Science family she comes into her young adulthood doubting the family's religious tradition and striving to understand how profoundly it impacted her life. Her relationships with her extended family were put to the test when her mother becomes ill and she is left as a "peacemaker" between her parent's beliefs about healing and her mother's...more

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Aug 14, 2011 Naomi Young rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

As I said in my update, I am drawn to stories about conversion, struggles in faith, loss of faith, coming to faith. This book gripped me from the start, and I read it in a single sitting (OK, I did get up to use the bathroom, but that's all).

Lucia Ewing Greenhouse was raised in Christian Science; her parents are converts to the faith. From the beginning of the book, we see her struggles to reconcile the real human problems she sees with her parents' calm assertion that since reality is the perf...more

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May 22, 2012 Shari Larsen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is Lucia Ewing's true story about what it was like to grow up with parents who were Christian Scientist. She and her siblings had a pretty normal childhood, in an affluent neighborhood, surrounded by extended family, but things were different when it came to medical care; Christian Scientist don't believe in medical care, doctors, hospitals, or using drugs, not even plain old aspirin. Lucia was in college before she had her first physical, and when she wanted to visit an eye doctor while in...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Mamers rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: abuse, adult-non-fiction, biography, 2011

Let me clear, I really liked this book, as is required for a 4 star status, but it made me really angry and the writing in the beginning is pretty choppy, so for that, I cannot give it 4 stars. Lucia Ewing is (if my calculations are correct!) rapidly approaching 50 years old, the same age her mother was during a large part of this story. Lucia relays her experiences growing up in the world of Christian Science. (Until reading this book, I did not realize Christian Science is different from Scien...more Let me clear, I really liked this book, as is required for a 4 star status, but it made me really angry and the writing in the beginning is pretty choppy, so for that, I cannot give it 4 stars. Lucia Ewing is (if my calculations are correct!) rapidly approaching 50 years old, the same age her mother was during a large part of this story. Lucia relays her experiences growing up in the world of Christian Science. (Until reading this book, I did not realize Christian Science is different from Scientology. Oops. Tom Cruise, don’t hate me!) (No wait, Tom Cruise is kinda psycho. I don’t care what he thinks.)

The book is broken into 3 sections, with the first section about Lucia’s childhood, the second about her mother’s illness, and the third being a very short wrap up. I felt a real disconnect from the author and her writing until suddenly, around page 58, (view spoiler)Lucia’s dad becomes a great big douche bag. A father who was once fully committed and involved with his children quickly becomes nonexistent in their lives. Their mother is a waffling buffoon who goes along with whatever the dad says, simply because he is the man. 70’s or not, Women’s Lib was in full swing.

It is at this point in the book that I find myself remaining equal parts frustrated and angry through to the end. One part of me wants to shake Lucia for not standing up for herself or anyone around her (brainwashed or not, it was obvious she had a big brain filled with all kinds of common sense), while the other part of me wants to repeatedly throw a brick at her parent’s heads. How dare you place the burden of your choices on a child?!?

Overall, it is a necessary read if you desire an understanding of how children are forced into a cultish lifestyle. By the end, I understood why the mom chose the Christian Science lifestyle (and how she quietly revolted against it). Lucia really tried to explain why the dad originally turned to CS, but I was left without fully understanding how someone could be so completely brainwashed. (view spoiler) I suspect that is the problem as a whole. We have no idea why people ultimately give their lives to these kinds of cults, so we have no idea how to get them out. As my coworker says on a daily basis, “You can’t cure stupid.”
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Sep 13, 2011 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-fun

This memoir chronicles the author's years growing up Christian Scientist,a sect of Christianity that does not believe in medicine, disease or doctors. I have been fascinated with this since I was about eight years old, and Jim Henson died and my parents tried to explain to me that he didn't need to die, but that his religion didn't believe in doctors. My 8-year old brain thought it was the silliest injustice.

This memoir was pretty interesting, especially the portions of the children growing up,...more

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Dec 08, 2011 Tracy Jenkins rated it 4 of 5 stars

I know that this book will stay with me for a long time. I have many mixed emotions about it. I am a Christian Scientist, but was raised in a very different kind of situation than The author. I would call my upbringing "practical" Christian science - because my parents would never have left my life, or their own in fatal jeopardy over some mistaken fear of how other CS people would view them. My experience includes several significant healings including that of deafness which was confirmed by a...more

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Jennifer Stringer Interesting. I used to read all the anti-CS stuff a while back, but so much of it seemed like the author's angry diatribe against his/her parents, wit...more
updated Dec 09, 2011 09:47am

Oct 25, 2011 Christie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Hmmm. I feel really badly for the author and hope that she finds some peace. I found this book a polemic that lacked context...many people reject the religion of their parents and many parents try to control their children. Its unclear to me whether it is Christian Science or the author's father who should be questioned. I didn't get a real feel for the depth or meaning of the religion from this book, and I was left wanting to find out more. When I looked at www.christianscience.com and at wikip...more

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Nov 23, 2011 Leslie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Greenhouse's memoir of her Christian Scientist childhood and her mother's death from cancer at 50 is emotionally charged and very moving. Her increasing disbelief in the tenets of Christian Science is well traced, and her feelings of hopelessness and helplessness in the face of her mother's (and father's) refusal to seek medical help is well portrayed.

But while fathermothergod raises questions about our responsibility for others and respect for religious beliefs, it is only in passing - tantaliz...more

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Oct 18, 2012 Dot Snyder rated it 5 of 5 stars

First off I felt really bad for Lucia. That was horrible the position her parents put her in. And I found it interesting even as a child that she knew she was being raised different and was already scared that she would not be able to see a doctor if she had a medical crisis. I think the book enabled her to put more of the puzzle pieces of it all together regarding what really happened since it was all so secretive. I'm glad she survived her childhood and seems to have a good head on her shoulde...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Jordan rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you want to learn all about the beliefs, practices and secrets of Christian Science this is not the book for you. That’s not to say you cannot gain an understanding of the religion, but there are many secrets about Christian Scientists not told in this book.

However, if you want to sink into a novel about a quirky family, in which several people are Christian Scientists, try this story out. Told by Lucia, she and her siblings suffer through their Mother’s devastating illness. Her parent’s beli...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lucia Greenhouse grew up in what looked like an ideal family, but the reality of their family was far from "normal". Lucia's parents had converted to Christian Science, a cult that branched off from mainstream Christianity and believed that all illness was an illusion of the mind and could be prayed away. Eventually Lucia's father became a Christian Science Practitioner, one of the people who's sole job was to pray for Christian Science members who were "working through" something aka sick. Luci...more Lucia Greenhouse grew up in what looked like an ideal family, but the reality of their family was far from "normal". Lucia's parents had converted to Christian Science, a cult that branched off from mainstream Christianity and believed that all illness was an illusion of the mind and could be prayed away. Eventually Lucia's father became a Christian Science Practitioner, one of the people who's sole job was to pray for Christian Science members who were "working through" something aka sick. Lucia and her family moved to England for a few years, but eventually came back to the US and she and her siblings all attended boarding schools, the one in England was actually a CS boarding school. After Lucia finished college and had pretty much left the CS faith, she and her siblings realized that their mother was very sick. But because of the CS taboo of speaking about any illness, their parents won't tell them anything and of course don't go see a doctor for a diagnosis. Only after months of watching their mother deteriorate and when she is on her death bed does their father finally take her to the hospital. There she receives treatment for cancer, but it is so advanced that there is not much to be done. Lucia describes the agony of knowing that her mother is very sick, but not being able to talk about it with anyone other than her siblings, and the shame she feels once her mother is finally in a hosptial and the reality of her illness is made clear. Her mother's illness also opens up a huge divide between Lucia's immediate family and her mother's extended family, none of whom are Christian Scientists. Her mother's family is understandably very angry that she didn't get medical treatment earlier, and even though Lucia agrees if her mother was refusing treatment there is nothing anyone could do to force her.

This was a fascinating, if sometimes heart-wrenching, book to read. You can almost feel Lucia's struggle with her mother's illness and her pain at being able to do nothing about it. I knew what Christian Science was, but had never read anything like Lucia's perspective on growing up and feeling like you've failed if you got the flu. Very eye-opening and interesting.(less)

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Oct 13, 2011 Jraedupree rated it 4 of 5 stars

I blasted through this in two days, which is unusual in my busy schedule. I quite simply could not put it down. For me, this was a very well-written look back at my own youth and the experience of watching Christian Science slowly kill my mother. The author and I are the same age, my two siblings and I also were raised in Christian Science, and my eldest sister also was the only one of us to join the Mother Church when she came of age. She also was the first to rebel against CS (and everything e...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Lori rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, scary-religion

Since I have become a parent it has occurred to me that my husband and I possess a great power at the moment: the power to construct 'reality' for our young daughter. For a little while, before the world of peers takes precedence, the child lives almost entirely in the universe of the family to which he is randomly born. All of the quirks and dogmas and prejudices that are part of that family leave an indelible mark on the child and are generalised as being 'normal'. Successful and functional ad...more Since I have become a parent it has occurred to me that my husband and I possess a great power at the moment: the power to construct 'reality' for our young daughter. For a little while, before the world of peers takes precedence, the child lives almost entirely in the universe of the family to which he is randomly born. All of the quirks and dogmas and prejudices that are part of that family leave an indelible mark on the child and are generalised as being 'normal'. Successful and functional adulthood is, to a large part, the degree to which we have balanced the 'reality' to which we were born with the greater reality around us...the degree to which we have preserved the best of what we were gifted in our families and the release of the negatives those same families have bestowed upon our personalities. It is a journey we must all take to varying degrees, some having much more 'baggage' than others.

Lucia Greenhouse's childhood reality stood apart from the 'norm' in two main ways. First, she was born into a family of prominence and financial means. The adults around her did not appear to struggle with bills. Most of them either did not appear to work at all...were semi retired in mid life with comfortable incomes or pursued careers out of personal interest more than out of a need to support the family. Secondly, (and more central to this memoir), Lucia was raised by parents who were devout Christian Scientists. The annual rite of "the check up" did not take place. There was nothing in the bathroom medicine cabinet that was medicinal. When Lucia or one of her siblings became sick they were taught to not speak of symptoms or to discuss the way they were feeling. To do so was a sign of weakness...a giving in to 'error' and a denial of the fact that they were created 'perfect in the image of God' and, therefore, should never really be ill. Sickness was a personal failing and a source of shame and subterfuge.

Fortunately, for Lucia and her siblings, childhood was negotiated with few serious health events...at least those of a physical nature. Emotionally, however, the relationship between parents and children became more strained as the kids grew older and began to view their parent's beliefs through the prism of the wider world.

This memoir is told through the lens of Lucia's perception. She appears to be the rebellious child and begins to question her parent's attitudes when they uproot the family without warning from their Minnesota home and move to London in order to be more involved in the Christian Scientist community there. (Allow me to point out, that none of you would be reading this review at present if my own parents had announced back in 1973 that they were, in fact, moving me out of Knuckledrag, Ohio to a new home in Hampstead Heath across the road from the John Keats house and this momentous decision was due to Christian Science. WHY? You may ask. Because I would have seen that as the great miracle of my life and embraced Christian Science as the bringer of this miracle which removed me from Raccoon County and propelled me into the London milieu. Which means that I would be dead by now. Either the pneumonia I had 10 years ago would have killed me...or my daughter's breach birth...or perhaps even the bronchial beat down I experienced this winter. But my odds of being on the wrong side of the grass by now would be rather higher than an egotistical 45 year old can take.)

But I digress.

Lucia was appalled at being yanked away from extended family and friends only to be sent to a Christian Scientist boarding school in a foreign country. Although she made the adjustment, there were further questions raised during the family's British sojourn. The well liked husband of the house mother at Lucia's school grows ill and dies while she is a student. The lack of information given to the students by the adults in charge adds to the sorrow and the confusion. And Lucia begins to wonder if this death was, in fact, inevitable.

Eventually their family moves back to the States and Lucia begins in a new school. Soon after, she learns that she needs glasses. The headaches and fuzzy vision are affecting her performance at school and her state of well being. In most families this would mean a simple visit to the optometrist. In the Ewing family, however, near sightedness provokes a full scale crisis. Lucia's father, a Christian Science "Practicioner" who uses prayer and spiritual guidance with his 'clients' who are facing an "illness that dare not speak its name", is livid when presented with the request for glasses. He screams at Lucia and refuses to pay for the glasses. (Lucia's mother quietly takes her to purchase them at a later time and Lucia does not wear the glasses in the presence of her father.) Lucia is clearly presented with a 'reality' in which her well being (the condition of her eyes/vision) is secondary to the religious beliefs of her parents.

This is an early sign of the lengths to which her father will go to defend his beliefs and to eschew medical intervention (and also to push this belief system upon his family.) It is a foreshadowing of a more tragic crisis and the key component of this memoir. Eventually Lucia's mother...still a young women in her late 40s...becomes noticeably ill. And nothing is said about it. There is no treatment presented outside of prayer and the 'reading of the lesson' each week. By now Lucia is a new college graduate, her older sister is a young married woman and her younger brother is in college. Although they are viable adults themselves (and no longer involved in Christian Science) they are still very tied to their parents and far too young to see their vivacious mother wither into a skeletal wraith of pain in front of their eyes. The fact that their parents resist communication and insist that Mrs. Ewing is 'making good progress" every time a question is raised about her health makes this even more frightening. Here is a 'reality' in which knawing disease can be denied and a mother's life is put into jeopardy in deference to the dictates of Christian Science.

The bulk of this tragic family story involve's Lucia's relationship with her mother and father and her justifiably mixed feelings about the way they lead their lives and raised their children. It provokes many questions about freedom of religious expression versus the well being of individuals who may or may not want these religions to inform their daily lives (and perhaps their ability to preserve their life). It is a story about choices. What compels a person to embrace extreme dogma? How simple is it to merely make the choice to love someone -- regardless of how differently they may decide to lead their life? Can these choices change from day to day? And how does one move on from the choices that were imposed in early life but do not connect with 'reality' at a later point in time?

I would recommend fathermothergod to readers who enjoy memoirs, to recovering Christian Scientists, and to anyone who may be interested in peering into a closed off world that few outside the "Mother Church" would ever access. (less)

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Jul 07, 2012 Molly Maguire rated it 5 of 5 stars

I always check the Huffington Post and NPR for new books to read, when I came across this book!! I was raised as a Christian Scientist. My mother, aunts, grandmother, great grandmother were all members of the mother church. I have had all the same feelings that Lucia and her family have endured. I can remember all the CS quotes or definitions, healings, testimonies etc... What ultimately made my decision to leave the CS life is first it was my religious choice and the hypocrisy of the religion....more

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Jul 09, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a damning account of growing up in a devoutly Christian Scientist home (the father was a Christian Science Practitioner, the mother a Christian Science Nurse). Reading about Christian Science or Mary Baker Eddy is always an odd experience for me as it is intensely personal -- there is almost a physical trill when I see certain words in print as if they are only for me. I suppose this should have been obvious to me before buying this book as I was raised, lackadaisically, in Christian Sci...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Alicia rated it 3 of 5 stars

As far as memoirs goes, this one was pretty good. However, stories about a religion where the teller has *left* the religion usually don't turn out favorable or even impartial. So that is why I am more skeptical of their stories. But if Christian Scientists really believe that there are no such things as GERMS, I mean, that is crazy right? (As I type this I am hearing some atheist say "So Christians really believe that a VIRGIN was the mother of Christ? That is crazy, right?")

Anyway, as an outs...more

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About Lucia Greenhouse

fathermothergod, my coming-of-age memoir about growing up in family informed --and ultimately derailed by-- the little known American-born faith called Christian Science, comes out in paperback on August 28th 2012! Available at your favorite independent bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, TARGET, and as an e-book.

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