Uncultured: A Memoir

by Daniella Mestyanek Young

Book Overview

In the vein of Educated and The Glass Castle, Uncultured is more than a memoir about an exceptional upbringing, but about a woman who, no matter the lack of tools given to her, is determined to overcome.

Behind the tall, foreboding gates of a commune in Brazil, Daniella Mestyanek Young was raised in the religious cult the Children of God, also known as The Family, as the daughter of high-ranking members. Beholden...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 125083547X
• ISBN13: 9781250835475
• Release Date: November 2023
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.6" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Memoir

This is a Memoir. This book is very hard to read at times, and there are a lot of triggers in this book. This book is also very touching, and it will make you think about things. I feel this is a well written book, and I really enjoyed reading it because how much this book made me think about things. I think that Daniella is a very strong woman to go through everything she did. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of this book, and I would say you should check out the audiobook for this book. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

Superb!

I am among the privileged to receive an advance copy of Daniella Young’s book, ‘Uncultured’. I read it in two sittings; my attention was raptly held from the very first paragraph, all the way through to the end. Reading ‘Uncultured’ has been an awakening for me because I had no idea such things went on. I look back and wonder, ‘where was I, and if I had known, what would I have done? How would I survive if it had been me? What would I do if it were happening here, right now?’ The writing couldn’t have been better or clearer. Ms Young’s descriptions of the horrific events that took place, particularly in her earlier life, led me to reflect on issues that have been important in my life as well: trust, abuse, and abandonment. What I admired in the writing of her biography was that she expressed herself as a (for example) ten-year old, or a fifteen-year old, expresses her feelings, not as an adult woman describing how a ten- or fifteen-year old feels. I perceived events in the book with greater clarity; they were more ‘alive’ for me as a reader. In doing so, she revealed the incredible strength that brought her from captive innocence to strong independence. This isn’t a comfortable book, particularly for those whose lives have been shaped by trauma. This is an important book, though, and one I highly recommend. It opens the reader’s eyes, and deepens perception. It is an encouragement that hope is not empty or pointless when you put some muscle and determination behind it. It is a book of awakening: the awakening of a child, the awakening of a soldier (a historically ground-breaking soldier at that), and the awakening of a reader.