Member of the Family audiobook

Member of the Family: My Story of Charles Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties by Dianne Lake, Deborah Herman is a 2017 William Morrow publication. Raw, brutally honest, and harrowing account of Dianne Lake’s life in the Manson Cult. It goes without saying that this book is difficult to read. Dianne holds nothing back as she takes us through her life, explaining how she ended up with Manson and what her life was like inside his cult, living under his thumb, and how she survived. First and foremost, don’t start labeling me as judgmental until you’ve read this book, because I’m going to call out Dianne’s parents right away. In my opinion, Dianne’s vulnerability stems from a lack of direction and accountability from her parents, who let her down in a big way. Their selfishness, lack of maturity, and complete irresponsibility, led a fourteen -year old girl directly into the path of a psychopath. As a child, she had already experienced some ghastly situations in her family, which, coupled with her parent’s behavior, made her a prime target for Manson’s con, and Dianne fell for it hook, line and sinker. If you want an insider’s look into what took place during the years leading up to the Manson murders, this is it. You couldn’t get a more candid story than this one. Even if you know a lot about the case, the trial, and so on, Dianne’s story, no matter how knowledgeable you think are, will leave you stunned, shocked, and bereft for everyone who suffered at the hands of this monstrous lunatic. I won’t go into details, because you want to hear Dianne tell her story, her way. But I highly recommend this book to anyone who can stomach the many difficult passages it contains, because Dianne’s story is ultimately one of triumph, even if she downplays it. This lady was brave beyond words and she really, sincerely turned her life around. Many people come out of situations like the one Dianne found herself in and have a hard time getting themselves together, understandably. But sometimes people really do find strength in their faith, which is what Dianne did. Not to sound too cynical, but often times when someone survives a traumatic experience, they have a short- lived dalliance with God or religion. But, for Dianne, it’s the real deal. I believe every word that came out of her mouth, and I do believe she is a real, sincere Christian lady. She endured so much and of course the demons of the past never fully went away. She still has scars and endured challenges in life, of course, and it has taken years of therapy, but I think she's been blessed with a normal, quiet life -for the most part. I think writing this book was cathartic for her and I'm glad she was brave enough to share her personal experience with us, no matter how harrowing. When the Manson murders took place, I was nowhere near old enough to truly comprehend how chilling the crimes were. I remember seeing the news reports, and I do remember Manson and his ‘girls’, scared me to death. As a teenager, I attempted to read ‘Helter Skelter’ but it gave me nightmares. I don’t think I ever made it to the end of that one, and I’ve tried to read it multiple times- although I think I might have screwed up my courage to try reading it again.Just as Jeff Guinn’s book, Manson was released a slew of other books came out around that time pertaining to Manson and his commune/cult. I passed on all of those because Manson still had that eerie effect on me, even though I have read many terrifying true crime books over the years and read tons of dark crime fiction. ( I may also give Jeff Guinn's book a try someday- He did a great job with The Road to Jonestown)So, while I saw this book had received high marks, I passed on it, and kept doing so for a while. Then I read "The Girls", by Emma Cline- mainly because I knew is fictional- which piqued my curiosity about this book. So, after seeing it continually pop up on my radar, countless times, I finally felt compelled to try it. I now have a much better understanding of Manson’s pathos, and how he managed to have such a strong hold on the people living in his commune. He was a con man, pure evil, and without conscience. Dianne’s story is utterly terrifying, and is truly the stuff nightmares are made of. While her personal journey is a poignant one, at the end of the day, she has proven that with her faith, her temerity, the love of her husband, and the support of her children, she is a strong, inspirational person, who can finally make peace with her past. Overall, this is a very compelling memoir. It has MAJOR trigger passages, which should go without saying. It’s a very, very disturbing story, and very difficult and hard to comprehend on so many levels, even after all this time. However, I still think it is worth the discomfort to see Dianne triumph over her demons.5 stars

At 14 I became one of Charles Manson's girls. At 17 I helped put him in prison'......"Member of the Family - Manson, Murder and Me" is the true story of Charles Manson, one of the 20th Century's most notorious criminal figures - of life inside his cult, the group's descent into madness and the darkness that ended the sixties. Dianne Lake was the youngest and among the earliest of his recruits to what became infamously known as, the 'Family'. She did not participate in the infamous Tate-Labianca murders but witnessed the aftermath and unwittingly received each of the murderer's confessions. She eventually ended up serving as the last key witness in the trial that put each of the murderers in jail. This is her story....I was truly interested and fascinated in Dianne's childhood and upbringing and how she became inducted into the Manson 'Family' to become one of 'Charlie's girls'. I was engrossed in her life story and found it very gripping reading. The details she went into was harrowing but very compelling and I really felt sad for her and the others involved in the notorious cult, suffering psychological control and physical abuse. I could fully understand how she wanted to keep that life separate from her new one, she was so young and once she had given her final evidence in court to help convict Manson she just wanted to put it all behind her and start a new life, which she did until that forever feared phone call happened, "Are you Dianne Lake?" the name she hadn't used in over thirty years. I've always been a huge fan of true crime and I loved reading this chilling portrait, I was particularly interested in the many photographs included in the book that accompanied the story. I would highly recommend "Member of the Family" to non fiction crime readers of all ages even those not overly familiar with the horrifying but fascinating Charles Manson story, it's an addictive and compelling confession that's never been told before and one I'm sure Dianne is very pleased to have finally written. 5 stars

What a harrowing, sad and compelling read this was, Dianne Lake was the youngest member of Charles Manson’s Family and she goes into great detail revealing the three years she spent as a member of one of the most notorious cults in the world. Since she was just a child during her time with Manson this is all the more haunting to know that such a young girl experienced so many horrors at the hands of a deranged and sick individual. Even knowing it’s all true it’s hard to imagine that the events she describes actually happened, at times I forgot I wasn’t reading a fictional tale.Unlike many books out there about Charles Manson this doesn’t focus solely on the horrific murders but instead is truly Lake’s personal story beginning in her young childhood up until she met Manson and then some bits and pieces about her adult life. As fascinated as I was by the stories she shared about the way The Family lived and obeyed Manson, the psychological aspect really gripped me. This was a teenaged girl who was not only engaging in adult activities such as group sex, drug abuse and an incredibly unstable, transient lifestyle she was also being controlled and manipulated by an older man with awful intentions and also abused her both physically, verbally and emotionally. It was truly sickening and her bravery at sharing the darkest moments of her life was impressive.If you’re interested at all in what life is like living in a cult this is the book for you, Lake is unflinchingly honest about what she was thinking and feeling during her time in The Family and her memory of events so many years ago is seriously amazing. Since she wasn’t present during the murders they honestly don’t play a huge role in the story, but this is still a very fascinating psychological look at how one can fall prey to the manipulation of a conman.

I picked this book up for my new series on YouTube called Reading Recs Sent by You (watch the reading vlog HERE: https://youtu.be/1MDtxwXlgAk). My friend Penny recommended this book and I was already in love with it only 78 pages in. I loved the 60s vibes and all the stories about the hippies having huge dance parties outside and taking LSD. I really enjoy that Dianne tells the whole story of her life and that the entire book isn't about her life with Charles Manson. *lots of trigger warnings for sexual assault, child abuse, drug abuse, and more*Dianne mentions many times how she missed when her family was "normal" living in a nice house, eating dinner together, etc. It really made me feel bad for her because her parent practically abandoned her at such a young age because they thought their commune hippie lives were more important. Page 236: "But that's what it means to be in a cult: You lose a part of yourself to someone else or to the group, so that your entire mind no longer belongs to you. Nobody chooses to be in a cult."I absolutely loved this book and how dark and disturbing it was. I learned so much about Charles Manson and his cult following that I didn't know before and this whole story was so dark, but very intriguing to me. I would love to watch a documentary about Charles Manson or even listen to an interview. Hear more thoughts by watching my vlog (no spoilers): https://youtu.be/1MDtxwXlgAk

Whoa! Exceeds expectations, to put it mildly. I couldn't put it down, to the detriment of my real life, even though I could have googled at any time to see how it turned out. Dianne Lake wasn't there for the murders, and was never sentenced for anything. She was a minor, 16 in 1969 at the time of the killings, and 14 (!) when she was recruited to the Family. But her story starts long before that, as these things do, with a father who dove wholeheartedly into the spiritual exploration and ethos of the 60's, apparently oblivious to the impact on his family, and a mother who was slavishly loyal and possibly without real options in the culture at the time.Of course I'm a fan of religious cult survival tales, but I've never read about the Manson family. Other than The Girls The Girls (pfft, read this instead). Like all good survivor stories do, they carry the story through all the things that happen to a normal person that make said normal person susceptible, and how eventually, incrementally, they become someone very not normal indeed, in an extremely altered reality and unimaginable mental captivity. And then, surfacing. The bubble bursts, not suddenly, but in slow motion, and the now very marginal person must creep and be coaxed back into sanity and wellness. In her case, to go back to high school and resume Grade 10, oh, and testify at the Manson trials.This journey, from normal to not-at-all, and back, is the real story, no matter the backdrop. A mystery story. This is the appeal - we want to know How does a beautiful teenage girl reach a place where she's stabbing a pregnant film star dozens of times? Well, read on, because this book tells the story very well. This girl went through some terrible years from a very young age, and more than one commune, before finding Charlie. The book is kind of non-fiction thick, but there is not a page wasted. It's one crazy thing after another, rolling forward to the well known outcome, and after that, the unknown personal outcome for Dianne. How did she make it back? I found myself staring at her wedding pictures from the 70's, her face sincerely joyous, because it was reassuring that she survived all that and could be happy, and reasonably whole? What an accomplishment!Serious props to Deborah Herman - excellent writing and skillful use of foreshadowing and description and tension. It makes a powerful story riveting.

I found this to be an incredibly involving read that kept my interest and overall really blew me away. Having read quite a few of the many books written about the murders through the years, and having collected some along the way, I've always been strangely intrigued by the whole story like many people. Written by Dianne Lake, who tells her story of joining the Manson Family as its youngest member at age 14 after becoming lonely and unhappy with her commune-living hippie like family after they "dropped out" about a year earlier and left her missing her friends and school, and a normal life. Looking for love and feeling unwanted by her own family, she thought she'd found it with Manson and his girls, as her family had abdicated being parents to her so they could be free spirits and do their own thing while all 3 of their children mostly raised themselves. They'd already tried to offload Dianne before with just a note transferring "custody", and when Diane went off with Manson they had no real home for her to return to, living in a converted bread truck by that time in a commune where Dianne wasn't welcome. They left Dianne completely vulnerable and ready to fall under the spell of a conman such as Charles Manson and his scams, and fall for it she did . I do feel that this is a must-read for any serious reader of the books about the Manson Family. I found it to be one of the better books telling details that were unknown before, as someone who was a member for 2 years and giving insight into why she went with Manson and stayed as long as she did and also why she testified against them later. It also has the benefit of many years to think about it to provide clarity on her life both before and after her life with the Family. Thanks for reading.

Could not put it down!A fascinating, troubling look at the 60's counterculture movement, and how it was perverted by a madman. Having grown up in this era, it has given me a new appreciation for my over protective parents. The author's story, while sad, is ultimately an uplifting view of the power of the human spirit and the power of God.

I will never stop being fascinated by Charles Manson and the things he convinced so many people of, it truly blows my mind. Getting to hear the story of a former Family member was both absolutely riveting and terrifying. I never understood how people could fall for Manson’s charms but after reading this account I can see how it could be all too easy. In Dianne’s case, it was a broken home and unstable childhood and always feeling unloved that led her to fall under Manson’s spell. And reading what came to be while she was under his spell was heartbreaking and horrifying. It wasn’t all love and sex, things were much darker and she was terribly abused mentally, physically and sexually. It was so hard to read her story, I felt my heart breaking for her over and over throughout the book. While it isn’t by any means an easy read, I do highly recommend it to fans of Helter Skelter. It gives a more up close and personal account of what went on during the Family’s reign of terror.

"But that's what it means to be in a cult: You lose a part of yourself to someone else or to a group, so that your entire mind no longer belongs to you." Member of the Family is a fascinating & haunting read. Dianne Lake is a former Manson Girl, and she goes to very intense levels to be open with the world. I'm impressed by her honesty, and grateful that she chose to share her story.The book is sad, and is very relatable to my teenage years. Obviously my story is not the same AT ALL, but it's very easy for me to see how Dianne ended up where she did. I felt a lot of empathy for her because I could have seen myself making similar choices to Dianne's. This book is quite dark, and a lot of rough topics are covered - like domestic violence, sexual assault, drug use, neglectful parents, etc. If you don't want to read about these things, be aware that the book goes into pretty graphic detail. It does make sense with the topic of the book, though - I'm not saying that it's unnecessary, but it can be overwhelming at times. The book did slow down in the last half (at least for me), but I was still interested in the story. It was a good read overall, and I'm glad to have read it. Thank you so much to William Morrow for sending me an early copy in exchange for an honest review!

Member of the Family was not entirely what I expected, and I think in this case that was a good thing. A pretty significant portion of the book takes place before Charles Manson was ever on Dianne Lake's radar, and this makes for a pretty interesting character study in what made Lake vulnerable to be recruited into a cult. She was just 14 years old and her parents had more or less checked out. Like many who find themselves recruited into cults, Lake was feeling incredibly isolated and desperate for some sense of belonging and stability. Charlie's "family" seemed like they could provide that for her, and the prospect of being treated as an adult was also enticing to an adolescent. Lake was not present for any of the infamous murders committed by Manson's followers, although she was in the cult at the time the crimes occurred. Consequently, the book is devoid of any graphic descriptions of the group's murder spree (something I think we can all do without.) However, the book should come with a content warning for physical and sexual abuse of a child. Lake suffered what she only later recognized as sexual abuse at the hands of older men starting from a very young age. This left her primed to be subject to Manson's influence, as that behavior had been normalized for her. Member of the Family is a difficult read at times, but an excellent first-hand exploration of the before, during, and after of becoming entrenched in a violent cult. Lake seems to have built a normal and healthy life for herself in the aftermath, keeping out of the public eye. I definitely recommend this book to true crime readers or people who are interested in the psychology behind cults. You can read all of my reviews on my blog, Jenna Bookish!Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr

4.5 stars.This was a totally fascinating read. I loved every minute of it. I listened to the audio book which is narrated by the author herself, and I always feel that brings a great level of authenticity to the story. As for the story itself, it read like fiction at times. What this person went through, at such a young age, the mind boggles. Smoking pot, frequently taking acid, taking part in group sex - all at the tender age of 14. Wow! I don't even think I knew what those things were at that age. Anyway, totally fascinating, gripping and upsetting in equal measure. I know that the author doesn't blame her parents, and has forgiven them, but to me, her parents have all of this to answer to. They carry the responsibility for what happened to their daughter. Just offering her a tiny slice of normality would have prevented all of this. I shake my head.

A fascinating, real-life companion piece to Emma Cline's The Girls. I found this a riveting read. Not just for the insight into Lake’s time spent as part of the Manson family or how a young girl – or anyone for that matter – can get sucked and manipulated into a dangerous cult. But also for its depiction of the shadow sides to the 60’s emancipatory hippie ideals, not only embodied in the obvious case of Manson, but also in Lake’s own parents who decide to ‘drop out’ and immerse themselves in the alleged freedom of hippie culture. Without a thought for the consequences for their children or the family. The book does a great job of describing 60’s counterculture and is a fascinating and frightening inside account of life with the Manson family. As a reader you can slowly sense the darkness descend as the story gets closer to those horrid days in the summer of 1969.

“I’d come to the Family because I’d wanted to belong, because I was looking for a place in the world. I was gradually drawn in until I couldn’t see how lost I’d become.” Captivating! It starts by laying the groundwork of Lake’s upbringing with drug-addled hippie parents who set her loose at age 14. Then, there’s life with Charlie and the Family. She doesn’t hold back about her participation in the cult or about helping send the guilty to prison.

This was a very interesting story!! If you like true crime I'd highly recommend this book!!

I have previously read Helter Skelter, along with watching many documentaries about the Manson Family, but I have yet to read a book or watch a documentary that was written by one of the members of the Mason Family. The author has divided this book into 3 parts; the first part explains her life prior to joining the Family and how she eventually ended up the Family, the second part tells about her time, about 2 years, with the Mason Family and the third part tells about her experience escaping the Family and finally testifying against Charles Manson and other Family members during their trials.This book was disturbing, from the first chapters I was shocked that her own parents introduced her to marijuana and LCD at the age of 13 or 14. I understand that this was a different time and her parents got involved in the hippie counter culture of the time, but it was still fairly shocking to read about a father giving his young teenage daughter LCD. It was interesting to see how both her own choices and her parent's choices led her to become involved with the Family. The second part of the book is equally fascinating and disturbing as she describes the two years spent with the Manson Family and how it was from an LCD fueled commune type community to the horror by which the Manson Family is now remembered for. She also describes in detail how Charles Manson changed over those years and the abuse she and the other girls endured. The third part was also great as it talked about how she recovered once she escaped the Family, how her testimony in court helped the State of California bring down a guilty verdict and how she went on to create a pretty great life for herself.Although Dianne was not part of the horrific crimes committed by the Family members, she was witness to them describing the events to her after the fact. She joined the group when they were still roaming around in the black painted school bus and the Spiral Staircase House then stayed with them, spending a great deal of time at both Spahn and Barker Ranches, which she describes in detail. I have always been interested in cults, I am not sure why they are so interesting to me, but I really enjoyed this book being written from a former Manson Family member, as it gave an inside to what she was thinking and why she stayed with the group, even when she knew things were starting to head in a dark direction.