Member of the Family by Dianne Lake (and Deborah Herman)

Member of the Family: Manson, Murder and Me
By Dianne Lake (and Deborah Herman)
Published by Harper Element (8 March 2018)

Publisher's description

Following the recent death of Charles Manson – the leader of the sinister 60s cult – Dianne Lake reveals the true story of life with Manson and his ‘family’, who became notorious for a series of shocking murders during the summer of 1969.

In this poignant and disturbing memoir of lost innocence, coercion, survival, and healing, Dianne Lake chronicles her years with Charles Manson, revealing for the first time how she became the youngest member of his Family and offering new insights into one of the twentieth century’s most notorious criminals and life as one of his “girls.”

At age fourteen, Dianne Lake—with little more than a note in her pocket from her hippie parents granting her permission to leave them—became one of “Charlie’s girls,” a devoted acolyte of cult leader Charles Manson. Over the course of two years, the impressionable teenager endured manipulation, psychological control, and physical abuse as the harsh realities and looming darkness of Charles Manson’s true nature revealed itself. From Spahn ranch and the group acid trips, to the Beatles’ White Album and Manson’s dangerous messiah-complex, Dianne tells the riveting story of the group’s descent into madness as she lived it.

Though she never participated in any of the group’s gruesome crimes and was purposely insulated from them, Dianne was arrested with the rest of the Manson Family, and eventually learned enough to join the prosecution’s case against them. With the help of good Samaritans, including the cop who first arrested her and later adopted her, the courageous young woman eventually found redemption and grew up to lead an ordinary life.

While much has been written about Charles Manson, this riveting account from an actual Family member is a chilling portrait that recreates in vivid detail one of the most horrifying and fascinating chapters in modern American history.

My verdict
It took me a while to get through Member of the Family. Not because I didn't 'enjoy' it, but because there's a lot packed within its pages, and I felt a need to process everything I was reading by taking a short break every-so-often.

The book doesn't explore the gruesome murders by the Manson family. But it does look at the horrific experiences of a young girl, who is neglected by her own family and then taken in by Charles Manson and his cult. Fourteen-year-old Dianne Lake didn't really have a chance at a normal life when her hippy parents introduced her to drugs and then abandoned her to a travelling lifestyle. The book is split into three parts. The first part focuses on Dianne Lake's early family life, the second part focuses on her 'Manson years' and the third part focuses on her recovery.

Dianne Lake is honest and open about her experiences, right through to her eventual rescue and recovery. This is a difficult and graphic read in places, covering child abuse (physical, emotional and sexual), drug addiction and brainwashing/control. Photographs in the book of Dianne, her family and several key locations triggered a sense of sadness and despair in me - that parents could abandon their daughter so readily and there was no one there to keep her safe at such a young and impressionable age.

Like many people, I have grown up hearing of Charles Manson and his cult. Dianne Lake wasn't involved in his crimes, and doesn't go into huge detail about them, but her story gives an overall insight into the psychological and physical control he had over his cult members.