Overview

Jenna Miscavige Hill was raised to obey. As the niece of the Church of Scientology's leader David Miscavige, she grew up at the center of this highly controversial and powerful organization. But at twenty-one, Jenna made a daring break, risking everything she had ever known and loved to leave Scientology once and for all. Now she speaks out about her life, the Church, and her dramatic escape, going deep inside a religion that, for decades, has been the subject of fierce debate and speculation worldwide. Piercing the veil of secrecy that has long shrouded the world of Scientology, this insider reveals unprecedented firsthand knowledge of the religion, its obscure rituals, and its mysterious leader--David Miscavige. From her prolonged separation from her parents as a small child to being indoctrinated to serve the greater good of the Church, from her lack of personal freedoms to the organization's emphasis on celebrity recruitment, Jenna goes behind the scenes of Scientology's oppressive and alienating culture, detailing an environment rooted in control in which the most devoted followers often face the harshest punishments when they fall out of line. Addressing some of the Church's most notorious practices in startling detail, she also describes a childhood of isolation and neglect--a childhood that, painful as it was, prepared her for a tough life in the Church's most devoted order, the Sea Org. Despite this hardship, it is only when her family approaches dissolution and her world begins to unravel that she is finally able to see the patterns of stifling conformity and psychological control that have ruled her life. Faced with a heartbreaking choice, she mounts a courageous escape, but not before being put through the ultimate test of family, faith, and love. At once captivating and disturbing, Beyond Belief is an eye-opening exploration of the limits of religion and the lengths to which one woman went to break free.

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9781483005300

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Jenna Miscavige Hill was raised as a Scientologist. Since leaving the organization in 2005, she cofounded the website www.exscientologykids.com, which features the stories of current and former Scientologists and supports those who choose to leave the organization. She lives in Southern California. Lisa Pulitzer is a former correspondent for the New York Times and coauthor of more than a dozen nonfiction titles, including New York Times bestsellers Stolen Innocence, Imperfect Justice, and Mob Daughter. Sandy Rustin is an actress and playwright. Her sketch comedy musical about parenthood, Rated P (For Parenthood), opened to critical acclaim off Broadway at the Westside Theatre in 2012; her one-act comedy, Fireworks, recently won the seventh annual Nor'Eastern Playwriting competition; and her newest full length play, The Cottage, was selected as part of Midtown Direct Rep's 2013 Theatre in the Loft Reading Series. A graduate of Northwestern University, she currently lives in New York City.

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