Lilia Tarawa

Lilia Tarawa is a New Zealand Māori #1 best-selling author and transformational speaker whose personal story has inspired millions of people around the world to speak their truth and claim their power.

Her #1 best-selling memoir Daughter of Gloriavale: My Life in a Religious Cult, was written in 4 months, part-time around her day job.

Her TEDxTalk, 'I grew up in a cult. It was heaven—and hell.' rocketed to over eight-and-a-half million views on YouTube, achieved 2018 Top Five most-viewed TEDxTalks in the Worldand is transcribed into six different languages on TED.com

The 5’44 curly-haired brunette passionately tells inspiring stories to anyone with listening ears and to her surprise, she’s managed to get quite a crowd to listen, including the

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Vennie Kocsis

Author. Writer. Poet. Artist.

Paranormal fangirl with a caffeine addiction and a soft spot for misfit cats. Probably hiding in the trees, whispering to the moss while plotting my next book.

📍 Pacific Northwest.
☕️ Bring coffee. Stay weird.
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Sam Brower

Brower is known as the man who cracked open the secretive world of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). His work led to the arrest and conviction of prophet Warren Jeffs, who is currently serving a life sentence plus 20 years in a Texas prison for child sexual assault.

Brower details the investigation in his new book, Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints.
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Richie McCaw

Richard Hugh McCaw is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He is the most capped test rugby player of all time, and has won the World Rugby player of the year award a joint record three times.

McCaw was the first All Black to reach 100 caps, and the first rugby union player to win 100 tests. He is the most-capped player in rugby union history with 148 caps, having overtaken Brian O'Driscoll's record in 2015. McCaw has also equaled the record for most appearances at the Rugby World Cup with Jason Leonard.

McCaw predominantly played in the openside flanker position for the New Zealand, Crusaders and Canterbury teams, but also p
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Linda A. Curtis

Linda Curtis is an executive consultant, speaker, and mindfulness teacher who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since 2003 she has consulted with hundreds of successful entrepreneurs, leaders, C-suite executives, and their teams. Her client list includes MasterCard, RSF Social Finance, NASDAQ, and KPMG. She serves on the core faculty of the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI.org), the groundbreaking mindfulness and emotional intelligence program developed at Google. She teaches their Search Inside Yourself course around the world at organizations including Google, Red Bull, L’Oreal, Vanderbilt University, Genentech, and LinkedIn.
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Fleur Beale

Fleur Beale is the author of many award-winning books for children and young adults, best known for her novel I am not Esther which has been published worldwide.

Beale was one of six children of a dairy farmer Cedric Corney and of a teacher and author Estelle Corney (née Cook). She was born in Inglewood, Taranaki, New Zealand, on the farm where her father was born. Beale grew up in the town before attending Victoria University, Wellington and Christchurch Teachers' Training College, where she met her husband. Since 1985 she has taught at Melville High School in Hamilton, Waikato and in Wellington. Beale's first stories were written for the children's radio programme Grandpa's Place. Her first book was a small reader and picture book for youn
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Rebecca Musser

Rebecca Musser is a highly sought-after motivational speaker and agent for social revolution. She empowers women around the world to escape from bondage in all its forms, because as she has said, “I was once owned, too.”

Born into the FLDS, an extreme, isolated, polygamist sect of the Mormon faith, as a teenager she was forced in marriage to the 85-year-old prophet; destined to be his 19th wife of sixty-five. After enduring years of violation, upon her husband’s death she escaped from his son, Warren Jeffs, when he tried to force her to remarry. On behalf of her little sisters and other voiceless young girls trapped within that culture, Rebecca testified over 20 times against cult leaders to bring evidence to light, and freedom to her peopl
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Irene Spencer

Irene Spencer came from five generations of polygamy. As the second of ten wives, she was the mother of 14 of her husband's 58 children. Her captivating story provides an intimate look at the daily struggles Irene faced as a plural wife.
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Debra Oswald

Debra Oswald is a playwright, screenwriter and novelist. She is a two-time winner of the NSW Premier's Literary Award and author of the novels Useful (2015), The Whole Bright Year (2018) and The Family Doctor (2021). She was creator/head writer of the first five seasons of the successful TV series Offspring.

Her stage plays have been performed around the world and published by Currency Press. Gary's House, Sweet Road and The Peach Season were all shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Award. Debra has also written four plays for young audiences—Dags, Skate, Stories in the Dark and House on Fire. She has written three Aussie Bites books and six children's novels, including The Redback Leftovers.

Her television credits include award-winning
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Fleur Beale

Fleur Beale is the author of many award-winning books for children and young adults, best known for her novel I am not Esther which has been published worldwide.

Beale was one of six children of a dairy farmer Cedric Corney and of a teacher and author Estelle Corney (née Cook). She was born in Inglewood, Taranaki, New Zealand, on the farm where her father was born. Beale grew up in the town before attending Victoria University, Wellington and Christchurch Teachers' Training College, where she met her husband. Since 1985 she has taught at Melville High School in Hamilton, Waikato and in Wellington. Beale's first stories were written for the children's radio programme Grandpa's Place. Her first book was a small reader and picture book for youn
Buy books on Amazon
Carolyn Jessop

Carolyn Jessop is a former Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member who wrote Escape, an autobiographical account of her upbringing in the polygamist sect and later flight from that community.

She is the cousin, by marriage, of Flora Jessop, another former FLDS member and advocate for abused children.

Carolyn Jessop now lives in the Salt Lake City area with her children.
As of July 2010, Carolyn is engaged to Brian Moroney, who asked her to be his wife in front of her children who are very excited.

After accepting Brian's proposal Carolyn quoted on her Facebook page "Choice is a beautiful thing!"
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Elissa Wall

Elissa Wall detailing her childhood in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and subsequent later life outside of the church. It was first published by William Morrow and Company in 2008.

Wall was born into a polygamous family in Salt Lake City and grew up attending the FLDS-run Alta Academy. She describes her living situation as tense; familial relations were further complicated when her mother was reassigned to marry another man in Hildale, Utah.

FLDS leaders orchestrated a marriage between Wall, then 14, and her 19-year-old cousin, Allen Steed, an arrangement she claims to have vehemently opposed. During their four-year marriage, Steed allegedly abused her sexually and psychologically, and Wall eventually b
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Flora Jessop

Flora Jessop was born and raised in Colorado City, Arizona. She was raised in a polygamous family, with two mothers and twenty-seven siblings, all members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS).

When she was sixteen years old, after years of abuse, including being impregnated by her own father and being forced to marry her first cousin, Phillip Jessop, she fled her family and faith. After many years as a vagabond in Middle and Southwest America, Jessop finally sought legal justice, and was awarded $10,000 in a lawsuit against the State Of Arizona for failing to protect her from the abuse she suffered.

Jessop finally settled in Galena, Kansas where she soon met a man named Tim and created a family unit with h
Buy books on Amazon
Sam Brower

Brower is known as the man who cracked open the secretive world of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). His work led to the arrest and conviction of prophet Warren Jeffs, who is currently serving a life sentence plus 20 years in a Texas prison for child sexual assault.

Brower details the investigation in his new book, Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints.
Buy books on Amazon
Rebecca Musser

Rebecca Musser is a highly sought-after motivational speaker and agent for social revolution. She empowers women around the world to escape from bondage in all its forms, because as she has said, “I was once owned, too.”

Born into the FLDS, an extreme, isolated, polygamist sect of the Mormon faith, as a teenager she was forced in marriage to the 85-year-old prophet; destined to be his 19th wife of sixty-five. After enduring years of violation, upon her husband’s death she escaped from his son, Warren Jeffs, when he tried to force her to remarry. On behalf of her little sisters and other voiceless young girls trapped within that culture, Rebecca testified over 20 times against cult leaders to bring evidence to light, and freedom to her peopl
Buy books on Amazon
Misty Griffin

Misty Griffin is the author of her best selling memoir Tears of the Silenced. Misty wrote her memoir to raise awareness about child abuse and sexual assault cover up among the Amish and other strict religious groups.

Misty Griffin’s inspiring story takes you through her ordeal as a severely abused child and then her experiences as a young woman in an Amish community- a place where pedophilia was never reported or punished - and finally her escape and efforts to save her sister and bring the perpetrators to justice, all while adapting to a modern life she had never known.

Now a Registered Nurse, happily married and with a child of her own, Misty has dedicated her life to making a difference.

Misty has also been to D.C, accompanied by her form
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Mitch Weiss

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Mitch Weiss is a New York Times best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist for The Associated Press covering subjects ranging from the Vietnam War to corrupt real estate appraisers to the British Petroleum oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. He is the coauthor of The Yankee Comandante: The Untold Story of Courage, Passion and One American’s Fight to Liberate Cuba, Hunting Ché: How a U.S. Special Forces Team Helped Capture the World’s Most Famous Revolutionary, No Way Out: A Story of Valor in the Mountains of Afghanistan, Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War, Countdown Bin Laden. The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt to
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Linda A. Curtis

Linda Curtis is an executive consultant, speaker, and mindfulness teacher who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since 2003 she has consulted with hundreds of successful entrepreneurs, leaders, C-suite executives, and their teams. Her client list includes MasterCard, RSF Social Finance, NASDAQ, and KPMG. She serves on the core faculty of the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI.org), the groundbreaking mindfulness and emotional intelligence program developed at Google. She teaches their Search Inside Yourself course around the world at organizations including Google, Red Bull, L’Oreal, Vanderbilt University, Genentech, and LinkedIn.
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Sarah Clutton

Sarah Clutton is an Australian author and former lawyer who writes contemporary fiction full of drama, suspense and humour. Having majored in psychology in her original degree, she is fascinated by people. How does the past shape us? What determines the outcomes when moral and legal boundaries collide? Are the adults really always right?

Sarah's work saw her named as the national recipient of the Dymocks/Fiona McIntosh Commercial Fiction Scholarship in 2018. Her next book, The Remarkable Truths of Alfie Bains is published by Allen & Unwin and will be on the shelves in 2025. She lives with her family in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales in the tiny, historic village of Berrima. The region is famous for the International Cri
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Jacinda Ardern

The Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern was elected the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand at the age of thirty-seven, becoming the country’s youngest Prime Minister in more than 150 years. Since leaving office, Ardern has established the Field Fellowship on empathetic leadership. She is a Senior Fellow at Harvard University, continues to work on climate action, and is the Patron of the Christchurch Call to Action to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. Ardern also works on a number of projects that support women and girls, but considers her greatest roles to be those she will hold for life, including that of mum and proud New Zealander.
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Jessica Willis Fisher

Jessica Willis Fisher is a singer/songwriter, performing artist, and author who believes that sharing our stories with one another will change the world. Growing up the eldest daughter in a toxic and abusive household, she performed with her family band The Willis Clan until her departure in 2016 at the age of 23. Her first book, Unspeakable, narrates her harrowing struggle to both articulate her childhood experiences and find her true voice on the other side of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. A passionate advocate for survivors, Jessica lives in Nashville, TN with her husband, Sean Fisher.
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Tia Levings

Tia Levings is the New York Times Bestselling author of A Well-Trained Wife, her memoir of escape from Christian Patriarchy. She writes about the realities of religious trauma and the Trad wife life, decoding the fundamentalist influences in our news and culture. Her work and quotes have appeared in Teen Vogue, Salon, the Huffington Post, and Newsweek. She also appeared in the hit Amazon docu-series, Shiny Happy People. Based in North Carolina, she is mom to four incredible adults and likes to travel, hike, paint, and daydream. Find her on social media @TiaLevingsWriter and TiaLevings.Substack.com. Her second book releases with St. Martin’s Essentials May 5, 2026.
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Shari Franke

Shari Franke is the eldest daughter in the Franke family. She is a student at Brigham Young University.
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Flora Jessop

Flora Jessop was born and raised in Colorado City, Arizona. She was raised in a polygamous family, with two mothers and twenty-seven siblings, all members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS).

When she was sixteen years old, after years of abuse, including being impregnated by her own father and being forced to marry her first cousin, Phillip Jessop, she fled her family and faith. After many years as a vagabond in Middle and Southwest America, Jessop finally sought legal justice, and was awarded $10,000 in a lawsuit against the State Of Arizona for failing to protect her from the abuse she suffered.

Jessop finally settled in Galena, Kansas where she soon met a man named Tim and created a family unit with h
Buy books on Amazon
Shulem Deen

Shulem Deen is the author of "All Who Go Do Not Return," a memoir about growing up in and then leaving one of the most insular Hasidic sects in the U.S. Shulem is the former blogger known as "Hasidic Rebel," and the founding editor of Unpious, an online journal for voices on the Hasidic fringe. His work has appeared in Salon, The Brooklyn Rail, Tablet Magazine, The Jewish Daily Forward, and elsewhere. He serves as a board member at Footsteps, a New York City-based organization that offers assistance and support to those who have left the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit his website at www.shulemdeen.com.
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