Unfollow

De: Megan Phelps-Roper

Narrado por: Megan Phelps-Roper

It was an upbringing in many ways normal. A loving home, shared with squabbling siblings, overseen by devoted parents. Yet in other ways it was the precise opposite: a revolving door of TV camera crews and documentary makers, a world of extreme discipline, of siblings vanishing in the night.

Megan Phelps-Roper was raised in the Westboro Baptist Church - the fire-and-brimstone religious sect at once aggressively homophobic and anti-Semitic, rejoiceful for AIDS and natural disasters, and notorious for its picketing the funerals of American soldiers. From her first public protest, aged five, to her instrumental role in spreading the church's invective via social media, her formative years brought their difficulties. But being reviled was not one of them. She was preaching God's truth. She was, in her words, 'all in'.

In November 2012, at the age of 26, she left the church, her family and her life behind.

Unfollow is a story about the rarest thing of all: a person changing their mind. It is a fascinating insight into a closed world of extreme belief, a biography of a complex family, and a hope-inspiring memoir of a young woman finding the courage to find compassion for others as well as herself.

©2019 Megan Phelps-Roper (P)2019 Quercus Editions Limited

We are all Megan

The vitriolic intensity of her experience highlights all human journeys: complex and full. Her honesty and the kindness of others is inspiring and encourages epistemological humility I.e. doubt.

On the virtue of doubt

Megan describes the harm she did with the best of intentions and how she learned to minimise the chance of making the same mistakes in the future.

She points out, WBC is not unique, she sees the same human tendency all around her. We can all learn something about ourselves from her example.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Genuine, heartfelt, and compelling.

Comparisons to 'Educated' are deserved, and if you loved Westover's memoir, you'll probably enjoy this too. Megan does an incredible job of portraying her upbringing both lovingly and critically- I was amazed at her ability to parse her family's religion and behaviour for an outside audience in such an insightful way.

Absolutely fantastic

An eloquently told story about the deep ramifications of changing ones mind. Thank you so much!

Incredible

A compelling and thought provoking story, eloquently told. I couldn’t stop listening to her words.

Unnecessarily lengthy

Story was interesting and the author herself proved a capable narrator, but it was really hard to finish.