Lucia Greenhouse

This is a fast, fascinating, and incredibly frustrating read, though I mean that in a good way. I went into this book knowing nothing about Christian Science, and emerged having learned a lot about its practical applications. If you are looking for a book about Christian Science theology (which I was most decidedly not), this is not the book for you. It is about one woman's experience growing up in the faith and her subsequent departure from it, so most of what you learn about Christian show more Science is presented through the eyes of someone who was forced into it and never truly embraced it.

I read this book in about a day; I couldn't put it down. The author lived a charmed life, save for her parents' increasingly bizarre obsession with Christian Science, a religion whose defining feature is rejection of modern medicine. When she was just out of college, her mother became sick, and the author and her siblings (who at that point had all more or less rejected Christian Science) felt compelled to keep her illness a secret from the extended family. This is the basic plot of the book. As a person who is not religious and whose family is deeply indebted to modern medicine, it is at times unbelievably frustrating. The author's decisions do not seem rational (to say nothing of her parents' decisions), but you have to try to view her situation through the eyes of a 20-something who mostly saw her parents as loving, if flawed, people.

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in different religions, particularly fringe religions, and how they impact the lives of their adherents. show less

Wow. This book is moving, engrossing and aggravating all at once. Let me say first that I am always astounded by people of unshakable faith, although I don't necessarily understand it, possibly because I don't share it. Christian Science falls in the category of stuff I just don't get. While there are CS who do dabble in modern medicine - glasses, crutches, etc. - Greenhouse's family is not one of these. Without giving anything away, I felt alternatively horrified and sympathetic for show more Greenhouse and her plight. How do you save someone who clearly doesn't want your help? And too, at the end, did her mother change her mind? The question remains ambiguous. show less

This is a fast, fascinating, and incredibly frustrating read, though I mean that in a good way. I went into this book knowing nothing about Christian Science, and emerged having learned a lot about its practical applications. If you are looking for a book about Christian Science theology (which I was most decidedly not), this is not the book for you. It is about one woman's experience growing up in the faith and her subsequent departure from it, so most of what you learn about Christian show more Science is presented through the eyes of someone who was forced into it and never truly embraced it.

I read this book in about a day; I couldn't put it down. The author lived a charmed life, save for her parents' increasingly bizarre obsession with Christian Science, a religion whose defining feature is rejection of modern medicine. When she was just out of college, her mother became sick, and the author and her siblings (who at that point had all more or less rejected Christian Science) felt compelled to keep her illness a secret from the extended family. This is the basic plot of the book. As a person who is not religious and whose family is deeply indebted to modern medicine, it is at times unbelievably frustrating. The author's decisions do not seem rational (to say nothing of her parents' decisions), but you have to try to view her situation through the eyes of a 20-something who mostly saw her parents as loving, if flawed, people.

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in different religions, particularly fringe religions, and how they impact the lives of their adherents. show less

This is such a sad story! Lucia tells of her childhood and how her parents raised her and her brother and sister in the Christian Science religion. Her father was a Christian Science "Practitioner" and the family moved to London for a few years where the children went to Christian Science boarding schools. Most of the book, however, deals with Lucia's mother's illness - which according to Christian Science, does not exist, and the way her family dealt with her illness and death.
I do not show more understand why anyone would forgo medical care when they are dying just for the sake of a religious belief. It just goes to show that there is a very fine line between religious belief and stupidity - a thought that came to me today when I read about the Tibetan monks who self-immolated as a form of protest.
My favorite quote from the book is from a Presbyterian minister who Lucia spoke to about her mother's illness and Christian Science beliefs and her refusal of medical treatment. He told her "When someone is drowning, he - or she - will grab on to the closest thing in reach. And they will hold on for dear life..., even if that thing doesn't float." show less