Genre: Memoir

What a fascinating look inside the world of a cult- the Big House Family - is Dinner For Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz. Bethany details her journey as an actress, as a person of faith, as a cult member, and as a survivor. I listened to the audiobook, narrated excellently by Lenz herself.

So I am not a member of the One Tree Hill generation - the show just didn’t hit the airwaves at the right time for me. In that sense I only had a general idea of Bethany Joy Lenz. But after hearing her interviewed on a couple of podcasts, I was very much drawn to her work.

I love memoirs, and Lenz is very vulnerable and thoughtful in this one. Of course I love a Hollywood adjacent story. I have been fascinated by the “stars” since my Tiger Beat years. I was drawn to her story of her life as an actress and singer. But the narrative of her involvement in the Big House Family was fascinating, sad, scary, almost unbelievable. But, believable in her detail and development. I am and have been a person of faith since childhood. Much of what Lenz details feels so akin to how I felt as a child and a young woman. The grooming of the group was careful and slow. And here’s the thing - I understood her choices for a good long while. I have become very thoughtful about how we live in and share our faith as women particularly. Her book challenges me even more. The idea that raising our children as people of faith, can make them vulnerable to groups like this also sticks with me. Like Lenz, I have my own history of … ordering my life according to Christian expectations that are not necessarily Biblical. They were, however, and still are in many spaces accepted. I imposed similar expectations on my own kids - who thankfully challenged me. I’m not 100% sure what to do with my thoughts, but we must be aware of stories like Lenz’s and be thinking of how to protect others. What kind of disturbs me is that in spite of her story and others in the group, members of the group have not been held accountable. I guess I don’t understand the laws here.

Again, I am grateful that Bethany Joy Lenz shared her story in Dinner for Vampires. She has a hopeful ending, but leaves this reader with much to contemplate.