Cult Sister

My decade in one of the world's most secretive sects

When Lesley Smailes set off from Port Elizabeth for a gap year, her mother joked: "Whatever you do, don't get married. And don't join a cult." But within months, Lesley was part of a notorious American sect, married to a man she hardly knew and allowed only minimal contact with her family. Despite rape, home births and a forced abortion, her belief was unshakeable. Until she was faced with the terrifyingly real threat of losing her children… Harrowing at times, but also funny and wise, this is Lesley's miraculous true story.