Dianne Lake

"My parents were leading different lives now, and I was too. I could no longer rely on them to take care of me, even at a distance; they were too immersed in themselves."

The sad truth about Dianne's life was that ideals about an alternative lifestyle lead her misguided parents to essentially "throw her to the wolves".
Her parents felt that "turning on, tuning in, and dropping out" could help them make a positive difference in the world. Instead, it destroyed the family unit and almost show more destroyed Dianne's life.

At the age of 13, her father gave her LSD for the first time. A middle- aged artist unhappy with the constraints of materialism (mortgage, job) and the responsibilities of the establishment (paying bills, providing for his children) he convinced his wife to trade in their lifestyle to live out of a traveling bread truck.

What ensued for Dianne is both chilling and heartbreaking. A teenager left on her own she fell victim to the manipulation and abuse of Charles Manson.

"He could hone in on one’s deepest fears and emphasize that he offered the only true solution."

In this book the reader gets a first hand look at how he was able to control people to the point of committing murder for him. Thankfully, Dianne was not a part of that awful weekend in August 1969.

"Charlie’s uncanny ability to access a person’s needs now has many labels such as a type of cognitive empathy, this ability to read others and know them better than they know themselves without the emotional empathy to go along with it. Charlie provided scientists with a prime example of this type of pathology."

Her story of survival and regeneration is nothing short of amazing.

"The only constant through it all had been me. This was the only person I belonged to, the only person I was truly responsible for. It was time for me to put away rescuing me and to realize that I would have to be there for myself." show less

There is something about mind control that is utterly fascinating to me, which is why I've always been intrigued by Charles Manson and the Manson Family. Cults in general have always been a repulsion to many, which also makes them alluring, many of us trying to answer the why's and how's. How do these cult leaders become so powerful in the first place and why do they do what they do when they have that power and control?

Member of the Family is Dianne Lake's life story, mainly focused on her show more youth and time with the Manson Family. Also known as "Snake," Dianne was the youngest member of Charlie's inner circle in the Family and was there when the Tate-LaBianca murders took place. Though she wasn't present during the actual murders, Dianne was a witness to the planning and gruesome details from the ones that were there and did take part, and was a key witness in the trails that put Charles Manson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie van Houten, and Charles "Tex" Watson away for the rest of their lives.

The novel starts at the beginning of Dianne's life, including painful childhood experiences, and the transition her family took from being a normal suburban family, to "drop out" of normal society and join the hippie movement, living out of a bread truck in California. It is during this time, at the age of fourteen, that Dianne's parents relinquish their parental rights and Dianne is on her own, moving from commune to commune, until she meets Charles Manson and immediately becomes apart of the Family.

Dianne does not shy away from details about her experiences with drugs, particularly LSD, and sexual encounters, including group sex with multiple partners and Charlie himself. There is also details about daily life, taking care of the children in the group, dumpster diving for food, and life in general in the hippie culture. Some of it was incredibly hard to read but luckily the details were just graphic enough to get the point across.

As I'm reading, and the story is drawing closer and closer to August 1969, I'm wondering what Dianne's particular role was in the murders, since I haven't read or seen too much about her in the past, and I found out that she was as close as you can be without actually witnessing the murders being committed. Dianne tells about the girls (Susan, Leslie, and Pat) being giddy, bragging about the murders and getting a taste for blood, so to speak. I had always been under the impression that the murders were committed out of obligation and obedience to Charlie and that there was no joy in the fulfillment but I was clearly wrong, and that sickens me to my core. How can a person find pleasure in doing something so heinous? That right there is evil in the purest form but evil personified will forever lie with Charles Manson.

I hate how Dianne was treated by Charlie in the final months both before and after the crimes were committed and how the Family as a whole went from being a peaceful hippie collective to paranoid murderers in training. I am so thankful that Dianne was able to escape that life and move past it all to live a normal and happy life. I spent a lot of time angry while reading her narrative, knowing Dianne wouldn't have went through all she did if it weren't for her selfish father, and hope that in writing her story that she was able to put a lot of feelings to rest.

I truly felt Dianne on these pages, that little girl that didn't truly understand the why's of everything that happened, and this was evident up until the very end. Though not eloquently written, it was raw, real, and 100% authentic, gripping your mind and imagination. I can't say that I enjoyed reading this novel, due to the material it entails, but I did find it utterly engrossing and commend Dianne for having the courage to finally tell her story. show less

It's hard to believe how people could have been so easily conned by Charles Manson's shtick, but Dianne Lake, the author of this book, tries to explain how that did indeed happen. She was 14 years old when she joined his cult and claims that she was never aware of the Tate and LaBianca murder sprees until they were over. Her drug usage and state of mind landed her in a mental facility for 8 months once she was arrested. She managed to recover, get married, have children, and lead what show more appears to be a normal life. I didn't feel a great deal of empathy for her, unfortunately, and I wish I could have; but such extreme naivete and gullibility just make me impatient. show less

Dianne Lake was 14 years old when she met Charles Manson and was drawn into his Family, then a ragtag group of hippies living a communal life with few possessions. But things turn dark fairly quickly. I applaud Dianne for finding the courage to tell this story, which must surely have brought back many painful memories. We see how Manson was able to pull in Dianne and other young women through his ability to quickly determine their emotional needs as well as their fears. Fortunately she show more wasn't involved in the murders, but she is candid about her life with a father who introduced her to drugs and a mother who couldn't seem to find the strength to challenge his ideas, as well as her time with the Manson Family. show less