Escaping Utopia, Janja Lalich
Escaping Utopia, Janja Lalich
List: $20.99 | Sale: $14.70
Club: $10.49

Escaping Utopia
Growing Up in a Cult, Getting Out, and Starting Over

Author: Janja Lalich, Karla McLaren

Narrator: Kelly Burke

Unabridged: 7 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/05/2026

Categories: Nonfiction, Religion, Cults


Synopsis

We think of cults as bizarre, inexplicable, or otherworldly places that only strange people inhabit, but cults and other abusive and high-demand groups (and relationships) are actually quite commonplace. In fact, the behaviors, social pressures, and authoritarian structures that create cults exist to a greater or lesser extent in every human relationship and every human group.

In the first in-depth research of its kind, the author interviewed sixty-five people who were born in or grew up in thirty-nine different cultic groups spanning more than a dozen countries. What’s especially interesting about these individuals is that they each left the cult on their own, without outside help or internal support. In Escaping Utopia: Growing Up in a Cult, Getting Out, and Starting Over, the authors craft Lalich’s original and groundbreaking research into an accessible and engaging book, the first of its kind focusing on this particular population.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Morgan on August 30, 2023

In Escaping Utopia: Growing Up in a Cult, authors Janja Lalich and Karla McLaren interview individuals who were raised in religious and political cults, regarding their childhood experiences of extreme abuse and neglect, and their efforts to escape and recover. Lalich and McLaren assert that cults ty......more

Goodreads review by Laurel on April 05, 2020

I was able to attend a group session with the author, and immediately listened to her book. I love that it's called “Escaping Utopia,” because the members of cults always think they are in Utopia, the ultimate and best place to be, but it can end up being a place of torture and hell for the members.......more

Goodreads review by Richard on March 07, 2020

Excellent. A book I will be regularly recommending. One of the best cult books out there.......more

Goodreads review by Dayna on September 15, 2024

This nonfiction book focuses on a number of former cult members, who were either born into a cult or whose parents joined when they were children. The 65 individuals left the cult on their own with no internal support or outside help. It looks at their struggle to heal and find support from therapis......more

Goodreads review by Emily on January 07, 2024

A well researched work to help anyone understand what survivors go through when getting out of a cult and the kind of help they might need. The authors give perspective and first hand accounts of survivors. This book may also be helpful for anyone who thinks they may have been influenced by a cult,......more