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The Ninth Child
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In this raw and revealing memoir, Lisa LeBlanc pulls back the curtain on her life as the youngest child growing up in a large farm family, influenced by religious legalism. A victim of abuse and sexual molestation by a deacon, Lisa was trapped by a code of silence and constricting religious rules. Even as people in her life disappointed her, God pursued her, and her depression and suicide ideation continued to collide with hope until she found healing through neurofeedback brain training. As a mental health advocate and ministry leader in her church, Lisa now uses her story to help others find hope in their journey of mental illness and trauma recovery.
In this raw and revealing memoir, Lisa LeBlanc pulls back the curtain on her life as the youngest child growing up in a large farm family, influenced by religious legalism. A victim of abuse and sexual molestation by a deacon, Lisa was trapped by a code of silence and constricting religious rules. Even as people in her life disappointed her, God pursued her, and her depression and suicide ideation continued to collide with hope until she found healing through neurofeedback brain training. As a mental health advocate and ministry leader in her church, Lisa now uses her story to help others find hope in their journey of mental illness and trauma recovery.
210 pages, Paperback
Published July 14, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 10, 2024
I love memoirs. I’ve read many since I became obsessed with writing and reading nonfiction back in undergrad. Some of my favorite memoirs are: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion; Educated by Tara Westover; Ordinary Light by Tracy K. Smith; Eddie by Stacey Dexter, and (even though I have mixed feelings about it) Wild by Cheryl Strayed.
This memoir ranks up there with those.
It tells the story of a young girl’s rural life growing up on the family farm and being raised in the fundamentalist Baptist church. The narrator weaves an absolutely beautiful and tragic tale of both familial and religious trauma as she tackles the hardships of feeling unwanted in her family and facing abuse from a church leader.
As the girl grows into a teenager and then young adult, she deals with increasingly debilitating depression, anxiety, and PTSD. And yet even among the shadows that haunt her every moment, there are beautiful moments of love and joy. I was particularly moved by the chapters that outlined the narrator’s beautiful relationship with her favorite uncle, or the chapters when she first begins to fall in love. The book tackles so many dark realities that many of us who were raised in church have had to face, and yet the narrator does so with grace as well has honesty; compassion as well as truth. She never waters down the facts of what is/was, and yet she also holds space for people, acknowledging and embracing their complexities and humanity.
And while the book deals with heavily religious themes, the narrator never once “preaches” at the reader. Not even accidentally. She still holds to her faith while also deconstructing the things she was raised to believe that no longer serve her.
I could honestly go on and on because I really truly loved every moment of this beautiful memoir. The story here is told with intention and is carefully executed. You will laugh as well as cry and if, like me, you were also raised in a fundamentalist Christian church, you will relate to a very great deal of what the narrator experiences. But even after all of it — trauma and abuse and confusion and heartache — you will land with the narrator in a field of hope. Always hope. Forever hope. Even if very small.
There is always hope.
This memoir ranks up there with those.
It tells the story of a young girl’s rural life growing up on the family farm and being raised in the fundamentalist Baptist church. The narrator weaves an absolutely beautiful and tragic tale of both familial and religious trauma as she tackles the hardships of feeling unwanted in her family and facing abuse from a church leader.
As the girl grows into a teenager and then young adult, she deals with increasingly debilitating depression, anxiety, and PTSD. And yet even among the shadows that haunt her every moment, there are beautiful moments of love and joy. I was particularly moved by the chapters that outlined the narrator’s beautiful relationship with her favorite uncle, or the chapters when she first begins to fall in love. The book tackles so many dark realities that many of us who were raised in church have had to face, and yet the narrator does so with grace as well has honesty; compassion as well as truth. She never waters down the facts of what is/was, and yet she also holds space for people, acknowledging and embracing their complexities and humanity.
And while the book deals with heavily religious themes, the narrator never once “preaches” at the reader. Not even accidentally. She still holds to her faith while also deconstructing the things she was raised to believe that no longer serve her.
I could honestly go on and on because I really truly loved every moment of this beautiful memoir. The story here is told with intention and is carefully executed. You will laugh as well as cry and if, like me, you were also raised in a fundamentalist Christian church, you will relate to a very great deal of what the narrator experiences. But even after all of it — trauma and abuse and confusion and heartache — you will land with the narrator in a field of hope. Always hope. Forever hope. Even if very small.
There is always hope.
June 21, 2024
So many hurting adults only need to look back on their childhood to understand that others have their stories as well. Lisa's book - The Ninth Child - takes us on a journey of her life; from childhood trauma, growing in her discovery of self and healing. The memoir Lisa shares, gives others hope.
Many of her references to family, church and culture, resonate with those of us who grew up in that era of silence, and religious rules. Her victory through Christ, healing through neurofeedback brain training and her love of writing invites us to share, not only her pain, but her joy and change. Everyone's story is worth hearing because we all have one.
Many of her references to family, church and culture, resonate with those of us who grew up in that era of silence, and religious rules. Her victory through Christ, healing through neurofeedback brain training and her love of writing invites us to share, not only her pain, but her joy and change. Everyone's story is worth hearing because we all have one.
December 30, 2025
This book was really moving! Memoirs is one of my favorite genre! And I truly believe this book could help bridge the gap between generations especially when it’s comes to mothers. I know there were a few things I could relate to! But I do think any mother who was abused or just exhausted from being a mother and wife or had to deal with mental illness and going to church would benefit from this book. Recommend.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews