FatherMotherGod: My Journey out of Christian Science

I'm not sure exactly how to write the title of this book. Is it FatherMotherGod? or Father Mother God? Before I trash on the title, I want to at least be very clear on my feelings for this book. I loved, loved, loved this memoir. While I found the topic of Christian Science to be interesting, I don't have any extreme desire to know more about this topic, and that was not what I most enjoyed. I just simply thought Lucia Greenhouse's writing was perfect, making me feel as though I were a part of her family. I could understand Lucia's own struggle with her faith and also how frustrated she was by her parents decisions later in the book. Although many family members weighed in with their disapproval of Christian Science and her parents' decisions, wondering how Lucia and her siblings could have allowed their mother's health to deteriorate, I could understand how trapped they felt, and how they really did feel as though their hands were tied.

Although I have heard stories on the news- mostly about some child who has died from simple illness that was not life threatening because of their religious beliefs and practice of denying any medicine, Greenhouse's book is my first look up close at Christian Science. I have never thought much about what type of people practice this faith, but certainly any vision I had in my head was different than Greenhouse's affluent, intelligent family.

I nearly passed this book up simply because of the title, but I am so glad I read this memoir. Greenhouse writes that this book took nearly two decades to write, and it is evident that every word and recollection has been well thought out and crafted.