Don't Forget To BRAINWASH THE BABY: A survivor's tale of faith and breaking away from family.

Spanning the course of three generations, Christina Pe鎙's journey of self-discovery is one of hope after fear, a fictional-memoir of determination to reach the light beyond the darkness. It is nearly impossible to imagine while reading that one can come out the other side of such pain with a smile on their face, a chuckle from the gut, and a heart open to love, yet this is exactly the story which shows even a delicate flower can bloom forth from a crack in the concrete streets of Los Angeles, where Christina is from.

In line with her religious upbringing, Pe鎙 was sheltered from the outside world. Having had an atypical childhood there were things she would not be allowed to do: play-dates, school dances, participation in sports or clubs, going to college. Days revolved around studying the Holy Scriptures, attending three meetings a week after school at the Kingdom Hall with her family, and preaching about the New Order door-to-door on weekends. The words "I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses" became the sole identifier of Pe鎙 at an early age. A happy and obedient child, she would heed the advice of her mother to get baptized - as she looked out into the stands of Dodger Stadium, where fifty thousand onlookers cheered her on, she took her place inside the baptismal pool unaware that in that moment of immersion the stakes had become gravely high.

Confused by parents with opposing polarized life-views, missing her three older siblings, and losing her dog Fatty to a more functional family, something was bound to give. When at twenty-three, still unmarried and having lost her virginity, Christina became consumed with guilt and would attempt to commit suicide for the first time. Seeking help from the Elder Body proved her a costly mistake. Accused of being a threat to the sheepfold she would be cast out of the congregation and labeled a "disfellowshipped person" for the sin committed. Shunned and disowned by her very own family, Pe鎙 isolated, fearful of everything and everyone. A stranger in an unfamiliar world, lost without a support system, and ill-equipped to live in society - depression and mental illness ensued. It would not be until in her thirties, now a single-mother with a daughter of her own, Pe鎙 vowed to raise her child differently. With one psychiatric visit at a time, rewiring of the brain proved successful.

Chronicling her exodus from doom-and-gloom in a way that is heart-wrenching and humorous, insightful and inspiring, Pe鎙 raises the curtain of a child raised in an authoritarian sect of protestant Christianity, a religion often referred by onlookers as a brainwashing cult. Proving at any age it is possible to release oneself of the chains of grief, self-doubt and fear. And letting go is a small cost to pay for the joys that come with emotional, mental and spiritual freedom. The fragments of Pe鎙's true self gradually came together, and happiness she discovered was not a far off dream to wait on, but a reality in which to live in each and every moment.

Likened to other major religions like Mormon and Scientology, Jehovah's Witness intrigue has captured the minds and hearts of a global following of well-meaning parishioners, including some of Hollywood's A-list celebrities, currently or having at one time been associated with the organization; among these The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, Michael Jackson, Selena, Venus and Serena Williams.