When is spiritual zeal a gift, and when is it a trap?
By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Girl at the End of the World is a story of the lingering effects of spiritual abuse and the growing hope that God can still be good when His people fail.
“Girl at The End of the World” was published in March, 2014 by Convergent Books—an imprint of Random House. It is available in bookstores nationwide, online and at your local public library.
I was raised in a homegrown, fundamentalist Christian group—which is just a shorthand way of saying I’m classically trained in apocalyptic stockpiling, street preaching, and the King James Version of the Bible. I know hundreds of obscure nineteenth-century hymns by heart and have such razor sharp “modesty vision” that I can spot a miniskirt a mile away.
Verily, verily I say unto thee, none of these highly specialized skills ever got me a job, but at least I’m all set for the end of the world. Selah.
A story of mind control, the Apocalypse, and modest attire.
Elizabeth Esther grew up in love with Jesus but in fear of daily spankings (to “break her will”). Trained in her family-run church to confess sins real and imagined, she knew her parents loved her and God probably hated her. Not until she was grown and married did she find the courage to attempt the unthinkable. To leave.
In her memoir, readers will recognize questions every believer faces: When is spiritual zeal a gift, and when is it a trap? What happens when a pastor holds unchecked sway over his followers? And how can we leave behind the harm inflicted in the name of God without losing God in the process?
By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Girl at the End of the World is a story of the lingering effects of spiritual abuse and the growing hope that God can still be good when His people fail.
GIRL AT THE END OF THE WORLD is available nationwide at Barnes & Noble, online at Amazon and at your local, public library.
“Witty, insightful, courageous and compelling—the kind of book you plan to read in a week but finish in a day. I cannot recommend it enough.”
“Elizabeth Esther ignites the pages from the first chapter and the book burns with honest revelation and bold transparency right till the last page...a brave spiritual memoir.”
“...an unforgettable memoir..eye-opening, powerfully written, and offers a vital perspective in the conversation about fundamentalism and religious abuse.”
“Esther’s descriptions of her claustrophobic childhood faith are clear and compelling.”
“Girl at the End of the World adds to an important line of ex-fundamentalist survival stories...Most importantly, though, these memoirs amplify the once voiceless among us.”
“There is life on every page. ‘Girl at the End of the World’ is evidence that sometimes our scars make the most beautiful art.”