A very interesting book indeed. Written by the daughter of Ervil LaBaron, the leader of a polygamist cult. He killed and got others to kill for him. Because the FBI was always looking for him, the family moved around and hid out. This book is from one of his daughters and her experiences growing up, looking for family ties and love. This is a book that is hard to put down, and harder to get out of your mind after reading it. It is even harder once you remember it is a real story, not fiction. It is well written and comes across very sincere. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

Read in March 2017
While the story is quite interesting, and not to mention heart wrenching, the writing style left something to be desired. Having read many like accounts of former members of polygamist groups, I found this book less compelling than others.

I recommend this book if you would like a story with a happy ending, with firm roots in reality.

I'm always up for memoirs from survivors of religious cults, and this one didn't disappoint. The last 50 pages were a long read -- for me they were somewhat anticlimactic. But, for people who are into the spiritual journey as well as the survivor's tale, they are an important part of the author's story. A solid look inside a polygamist cult.

I enjoyed this book that I received as an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley. Anna LeBaron endured a lot and was a very brave woman/girl. She was able to do at 13 what many who are older and stuck in that or a similar cult couldn't do. Although it is hard to believe someone who came from such an existence was able to end up living such a relatively normal life later on, it shows that with the right support system that one can get through a lot. I have been under the weather lately and do not think that I am writing very good reviews at the moment, but hop[e to be back to writing well thought out reviews soon. I did enjoy this and recommend this book, especially if you enjoy books about women who escape polygamous cults.

Thank You to Tyndale House Publishers for providing me with an advanced copy of Anna LeBaron's memoir, The Polygamist's Daughter, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- In her memoir, The Polygamist's Daughter, Anna LeBaron recounts her dysfunctional and disruptive past, as a child born to Fundamentalist Mormon cult leader, Ervil LeBaron.

LIKE- I requested LeBaron's memoir on NetGalley, because I find memoirs of cults, specifically Fundamentalist Mormon groups, to be fascinating. As an only child raised by a single mother, the idea of having multiple parents and dozens of siblings is mind boggling; a completely foreign concept to me. 

LeBaron faced many hardships as a child. When she was still in elementary school, she was taken to Mexico to live with other cult members, away from both of her parents. She faced extreme poverty and hunger. LeBaron and the other children were moved frequently, disrupting  their education, which was a mix of home schooling and public education. As soon as they were able, the children were put to work, including manual labor and selling food on the streets. She was forced to fend for herself at a young age and her childhood is heartbreaking.

The Polygamist's Daughter takes an even darker turn when LeBaron becomes a teenager,  living with her sister and brother-in-law. This period is the first time in her life where she feels love and stability. Beyond his death, Ervil, orders the deaths of several former cult members, including LeBaron's brother-in-law. During the hit on her brother-in-law, LeBaron's sister was also killed, leaving all of their children without parents. At the time, LeBaron was college-aged and just beginning to branch out on her own, but she felt a responsibility to help the kids in the aftermath of their parent's deaths. Although her nieces and nephews were ultimately adopted by a family friend, this situation deeply impacted LeBaron's life. LeBaron was left with hatred towards her deceased father, and very mixed emotions towards her mother, who would not leave the cult.

DISLIKE- LeBaron's life is intense and fascinating, but her writing lacks finesse. Many places were repetitive, or similar to a child telling a story, where they don't know how to edit out the less relevant or interesting details. This made the memoir uneven with regard to pacing and my level of engagement. The Polygamist's Daughter would be stronger with sharper editing, or perhaps if it had been co-written.

RECOMMEND- Maybe. There are many memoirs on growing up in polygamist cults and I don't think LeBaron's is dissimilar to other books on the market. However, if the subject is of interest to you, The Polygamist's Daughter, is a quick read. It's impossible to not feel sympathy for LeBaron and the other children of this cult.

Anna LeBaron is the daughter of Ervil LeBaron, the deceased leader of a Mormon fundamentalist group supporting polygamy. Ervil had thirteen wives and fifty children. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the death he ordered against a rival cult leader. Those who challenged him or left the church found their lives in danger.
Anna’s parents were constantly on the run to avoid arrest from the FBI. To keep her and her siblings safe they were sent to live with different relatives and church members. She attended school but friendships were not fostered or encouraged. Numerous times she was relocated to another state to live with a distant cousin to start her life over again.
This is a heartfelt story of a survivor and a missed childhood living in the shadow of her father's crimes. It is also about finding faith after bravely dismissing family’s beliefs and making a life for herself. This memoir is fascinating and give a glimpse of a different way of life.

It's not often that a book keeps me up at night, but this one did. It kept me up both because of the difficult content and because it was impossible to put down! I'm about the same age as the author, and I remember reading about the murders and about the cult. Cults were big in the news at that time, between the LaBarons and the Jim Jones mass suicides. My heart broke repeatedly as I read all that the author went through as a child. I felt the fear, uncertainty, confusion, degradation, and revulsion of each phase of her life. All I had known previously was about the murders. This book puts a whole different spin on the story.

I felt such compassion for that hurting little girl and just wanted to hug her so badly! But I felt such joy as she began being exposed to truth and trust and love. I won't give away any plot points, but by the end of the book, I rejoiced to read how dramatically different her life was than how it began.

I don't often become such emotionally invested in books. I can think of probably only four or five books in my life that have affected me like Ms. LaBaron's book has. I highly recommend this riveting, life-changing, hope-giving story.

I gratefully received an eARC from the author, publisher, and NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

I have heard of dysfunctional families before. But, never have I heard a story like this one. My heart went out to Anna and her siblings. I shiver when I think of what they went through because of their father's evil cult. I was amazed. I was shocked. I was numb. I couldn't believe that a man would do such evil things to his family. How could anyone survive not only physically, but emotionally as well? Some didn't. By God's grace did Anna survive and live to tell the story. Her faith in Jesus and the body of true believers who loved her and cared for her is what got her through. I highly recommend this story. It will be of encouragement. God loves and overcomes.

Before I go any further into this review, let me first say this: despite the disappointments and problems I found reading this one, I never put it down. It was easily digestible, very simply written (we’ll come back to that in a minute) and it didn’t take me long to get through it. I never felt like abandoning it. On the other hand, the unfortunate news is that this is probably the best praise that I have for this one.

The Polygamist’s Daughter by Anna LeBaron is a memoir (written with the help of Leslie Wilson) which details Anna’s time growing up in a Mormonist cult and her daring escape. Or, at least, that’s what it says on the tin. In reality, unfortunately, the first two thirds of this memoir follows Anna (one of fifty children belonging to Ervil LeBaron) darting around the Mexican countryside to evade the capture of the FBI (amongst others) who were in constant pursuit of her father, whilst suffering general neglect and some disturbing child labour. In the final third of the book, where the real meat of the story is, we sadly also find ourselves racing around as we reach the finish line after hearing about Anna’s adolescence, her decision to leave the cult (which… didn’t actually seem to be that difficult), her first experiences dating and then her present day all in the last 30% of the narrative.
Whilst I realise that this is a memoir and that we are beholden to a pre-determined timeline, one of the most wonderful things about a memoir is the ability to look back and highlight the biggest moments and condense the smallest. Unfortunately, that really didn’t happen in this book and whilst there were real harrowing Anna seems to go through them all without much of an emotional impact on the reader.

Which brings me to my second problem and that was with the tone of the novel. Having done some research, Leslie Wilson (co-author) appears to have written mostly instruction manuals (diet books and crafts) and while these things are no less worthy of being read, they do take a different skill set to create. Now that I know about Wilson’s writing background, I can see the similarity in the tone between the two genres and that probably accounts for the general lack of emotional appeal that I felt when it comes to the reader investing in any of the characters.

There was very little outside information or insight offered into Anna’s journey and I felt like it was such a wasted opportunity. The Four O’Clock murders hang over Anna for less than three chapters of this twenty-odd-chapter book and though I was saddened by her losses, I still felt like I was being kept at arm’s length. There was no exposition on the wider world or the wider impact of these murders, no real mention of media coverage or what it did to other members (or even ex-members of the cult), and no real feeling that (except for a quick couple of pages), Anna was ever in any real danger.

Finally, I felt like the conclusion of the book was clumsy and a little cringe-worthy after an impromptu family reunion is used to bring all of the loose threads of the narrative together. Anna’s love for God pervades the last handful of pages and, while I find religion generally pretty interesting in a memoir-setting, here it felt like it was the magic wand that was there to wipe all of the bad things away.

In short, this one was sadly a miss for me! Happily, it seems as though I might be in the general minority amongst the early reviewers as most people seem to have got something from Anna’s narrative. I wish her success with her novel but I don’t think I’ll be picking up any future offerings.

This memoir is both evocative and memorable. I had to force myself to take breaks and put it down!

What Anna endured as a child could read as a agonizing tale, however this book is full of hope and healing. But beware- you will need tissues some pages are impossible to read without tears.

Her story is extraordinary, yet every reader will find a piece of themselves in these pages, as we all have a past that needs healing and a future that requires hope!

I intentionally didn't google anything about Anna's family before reading this book, so I knew nothing of her story. There were moments when I deeply wanted to know more--especially about the darkest moments growing up in this cult. However, I respect the way that Anna was intentional about sharing only her story and because of that the reader may want to find other sources to learn about this man who was Anna's father and cult leader.

I am grateful she chose to share her story with the world and I am certain no one will regret taking the time to read it!

I received an advance copy of the book in exchange for my honest feedback

It always saddens me to read about what happens in Polygamist cults but I read them so I can learn. And this one is another one that really shows the corruption and abuse that happens in the polygamist cults. The author's father is such an abusive man that he even murdered to keep his power. The life she had to lead as a child is so powerful. and sad all at the same time. I highly recommend it.

I appreciate the chance to read the book but I felt like the author wanted to go deeper but just couldnt. She would go to the edge and look down and turn back. Sad in most parts but nothing different from the other 100 polygamist children who have written books

Ervil LeBaron was one of the most famous Mormon fundamentalist leaders. He was a self-proclaimed prophet that thought he was a god. He was imprisoned for the blood atonement killings that were done in the name of god.

Anna was his daughter.

This is one of those books that will be heavy on your heart for days to come. The darkness just sits in your mind and you find yourself thinking on it. Her story is brutal, but written with such forgiveness, kindness and love. A love that only the One, True God could put in her heart.

Please pick up this book. It is eye opening and incredible. It's not written in anger or spite. It's written by a girl that has come through the darkness into the light of the One, True God. It's difficult, yes. It's also powerful. I highly recommend!

Thank you for this book in exchange for my review. As always, this is my honest opinion. Here's to many more!

Anna, the daughter of cult leader and polygamist Ervil LeBaron, outlines her life story in this book. Moving constantly in the middle of the night, staying with strangers, working as a slave, and never knowing where the next meal came from are only a few of the constants in Anna’s life.

I had some mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, Anna’s story was fascinating. On the other hand, the writing and story pace left a lot to be desired. It was hard to get a sense of Anna’s age throughout the book. I knew nothing about Ervil’s cult and found myself turning to Wikipedia for more information about what was really going on. The book just lacked the basic background information that would have gave her life story context. Overall, not a bad book, just not one I would re-read.

The Polygamist's Daughter is an interesting read. Based on a true story and a emotional one, as well. I would highly recommend this.
5 stars.

Anna's account of growing up as the daughter of Ervil Lebarron, a well-known polygamist. This book is an eye-opener for those who have never read anything about this cult. Anna tells her story of fear, abuse and the uncertainty of growing up feeling unloved by a father that she had only seen three times in her life. This amazing account of her struggle to leave the cult and heal is inspiring. Highly recommended!

I've read a lot of polygamy memoirs, and this one definitely added to the conversation. Glad it's out there and best wishes to the author--

A read that will make you realize how lucky you are and how your childhood compared to this poor little girl who really didn’t have one. A survivor for sure, but at what price, and what is told in this true story of the life of Anna LeBaron.
I vaguely remember reading about some of the murders that were committed but this cult, and why, well you can’t leave, or the head honcho doesn’t like you or wants what you have.
No wonder this girl ends up in therapy, and you have to wonder while reading if it can even help, all that she has been through and seen. You wonder how a mother could allow these things to happen to her child, or leave her, in a foreign country no less, but then I had to think this woman was so brain washed, but it still made it hard to read all that went on.
This is a quick page turning read, and once I started the author compelled me to keep reading, all the while I wanted to hug and comfort her, but loved the story right to the end.
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Tyndale, and was not required to give a positive review

This book opened my eyes to a chapter of American history they don't teach you about at school or talk about on the news or the radio. Wow.