Harrison Hill: The Oracle's Daughter

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On a cool fall night in 1999, twenty-six-year-old Sarah Green crept out of her house, retrieved a backpack from its hiding place, and ran for her life. She was escaping not just the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, a paramilitary religious cult operating out of the New Mexico desert, but also the punishments and cruelty of the cult’s leader—her mother, Deborah.
In The Oracle’s Daughter, Harrison Hill traces the fascinating beginnings and violent end of ACMTC, from its early days as an outgrowth of the 1960s counterculture to its descent into conspiracy-fueled abuse. This is the story of three women—Deborah, the group’s founder and self-proclaimed oracle; Maura, one of its first members; and Sarah, Deborah’s daughter—bound together by a punitive, baroque set of radical beliefs and practices, including exorcism, kidnapping, and the horrific mistreatment of those who fell out of the leaders’ favor. With a dramatic, deeply researched narrative tracing the strange twists and turns of the country’s religious development, The Oracle’s Daughter illuminates the porous boundary between the fringe and the mainstream—and shows how much more vulnerable we are to extremism than we might like to think.

Harrison Hill grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia and lives in Brooklyn, New York. His writing has appeared in GQ, Vogue, The Cut, Travel + Leisure, and elsewhere. The Oracle’s Daughter is his first book.

Brookline Booksmith, thriving in the heart of Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Massachusetts, since 1961, is one of New England’s premier independent bookstores. We offer a vast selection of books, ranging from current bestsellers to the most eclectic titles. We are also known for our beautiful and inspired gifts. Customers buy and sell gently used books in our treasured Used Book Cellar and enjoy our bountiful bargain book selection. We host award-winning events series (including our groundbreaking Transnational Literature Series), offering more than 300 author talks, community conversations, and book clubs annually. Find more at brooklinebooksmith.com!

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