Donna M. Johnson

Donna Johnson tells of a childhood on the move: from ever-moving football-field-size revival tents to "foster" homes to hideaways as the (never acknowledged) 2nd family of preacher David Terrell. She struggles between faith and disbelief, trust and suspicion. She witnesses no less than three healings (miracles) yet never has a personal touch from God. Preacher Terrell is kind and inspirational but never a full-time father. She endures what is close to physical and emotional abuse from several 'foster' mothers (while her real mother and Terrell are in Africa). She rebels, comes back, and then finally leaves the world of evangelists for good at college-age. The book is compelling, detailed and this reader, for one, felt Donna's pain at being pulled between the real world and the only one she knew. The book also tells a cautionary tale about believing too much and becoming paranoid and fearful of others outside the tent.… (altro)

This was one of those books that I wasn't sure what I might get from the author. I've been reading a lot of memoirs lately and they're hit and miss for the most part. The celebrity memoirs are stories staggered and mish-mashed together. The memoirs of regular folks are even more hit or miss.

The Glass Castle was written so well. Not my favorite book because of the content, the voice of the author is so clearly defined. She's a true author, capturing scenes and moments with beautiful detail even when the scene was hard to read.

On the other hand the memoir Escape was not written by a "real" writer, but the woman who's story it is and a ghost writer. Overall, it's not so well told. There were no cleverly written descriptions; it was just the facts, ma'am.

I'm comparing these two novels to Holy Ghost Girl because Glass Castle is similar in it's experience of children growing up with nontraditional parents; and Escape because of it's relation to extreme religious beliefs.

I got lucky, Holy Ghost Girl was written with clarity and actual storytelling, something that Escape clearly did not have. We see, through the eyes of the child Donna Johnson, the confusing world of traveling tent revivalist. Town to town, giving over to the charisma of a man who believed he was Jesus. The pull to want to please and be "good" but also to fit in, doubting some of the things that went on under the tent.

Most of the book is young Donna, but we do get to see teenage Donna who struggles with her faith going back to the fold of Brother Terrell and then leaving.

It's a wonderfully written book about faith, doubt, revelation. It's not just a tale of scandal but how it was on the inside, but not so sober or tell-all as Escape, enough easy storytelling like Glass Castle.

This is a beautiful book if someone likes well written memoirs, interest in a look inside a religious order, and would like to read about the ups and downs of faith.… (altro)

I found this fascinating in places and it certainly offered an interesting perspective on the "faith healer" phenomena. Were people really healed? How could they have been when the "prophet" was so flawed? Mostly I left this story with a lot of sadness for the people that this man hurt and a renewed conviction that people should not put their faith in other human beings but in God alone, He is the only one who will never disappoint us.

The author was just three years old when her mother signed on as the organist of tent revivalist David Terrell, and before long her family was part of the hugely popular evangelical preacher's inner circle. She often questioned the strange things that she observed, but the adults in her life always quashed her questions and encouraged her to trust in the anointing of Brother Terrell. As she grew older she became more and more aware of the illicit relationship between her mother and Brother Terrell, and she became resentful of the secretive lifestyle they were forced to adopt
Donna eventually left the Terrellites, despite the strain this placed upon her relationship with her mother and siblings. Eventually Terrell is imprisoned and Donna is able to come to terms with her past and find her own way to a path that seems right to her.… (altro)