This is a very well written autobiography of a very intelligent girl who is physically and mentally abused by her parents from birth. Intelligent people in such situations often create multiple personalities to cope. Unlike many multiple personality cases, folks with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) actually hold conversations between the personalities and are aware of each other.

As a “guy”, this is not usually my cup of tea, but I was totally involved with “Stacy’s” problems.

Erickson tells the story as a work of fiction, using the name of one of her real personalities for the protagonist. The names of her parents are also changed (probably to avoid lawsuits from the guilty parties for defamation).

Erickson (her married name) manages to avoid sensationalizing the book by avoiding descriptions of rape by her father. Rather, she focuses on the effect of the world upon Stacy and her other embedded personalities. She takes us from just after her birth (which she actually remembers) through young adulthood when she finally breaks away from her parents and the abusive cult they get involved in.

The last chapter of the book describes in brief how she managed to get the help she needed to cure herself and to integrate her personalities into one functional individual.

If you have DID or know someone who does, this will help you to understand what they go through. If you want to just read a well-written story of abuse and eventual victory, you’ll love this book. “Stacy” survives and wins, and there is something in that for all of us who have to slay one or more dragons every day.