When the World Didn't End

“Absorbing … with the intimacy of one who grew up in a cult and the distance of one who left it, Turner contemplates the nature of shared belief …”—The New Yorker“Guinevere Turner’s mesmerizing, devastating account of growing up in the Lyman Family cult is a coming-of-age story like no other. Rendered in astounding detail from her childhood journals, her story reads like a novel and deserves wide attention in an age of fringe groups going mainstream.”—Jessica Bruder, author of Nomadland“This compelling memoir, both harrowing and inspired, is written with candor and emotional clarity and marked by a wealth of surprises.”—Vivian Gornick, author of Fierce Attachments“A harrowing, emotional read as well as an invaluable chronicle of growing up in a cult.”—Booklist“Anchored by diary entries, Turner’s memoir vividly recalls her unconventional upbringing in the cultlike Lyman Family… . The author’s prose is reflective, vivid, and confessional, a rich combination full of striking imagery… . A moving portrait of a bizarre childhood written with emotional nuance and bittersweet deliverance.”—Kirkus Reviews“Will have wide appeal for general audiences, particularly those who enjoyed memoirs such as Tara Westover’s Educated and Deborah Feldman’s Unorthodox.”—Library Journal

Guinevere Turner is an acclaimed screenwriter and director. She co-wrote the screenplays for American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page and, most recently, wrote the screenplay for Charlie Says. She also wrote and starred in the film Go Fish and was a writer and actor on Showtime’s The L Word. An essay she wrote for The New Yorker is the inspiration for this memoir. She lives in New York and Los Angeles.