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Uncultured

Written by: Daniella Mestyanek Young
Narrated by: Daniella Mestyanek Young
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Publisher's Summary

"It’s a dark story that forced me to think more expansively about what constitutes a cult." —The New York Times' Ernesto Londoño

"Although this is Mestyanek Young’s first time narrating, listeners will appreciate hearing this deeply personal story told by the author herself. Share with fans of Tara Westover’s Educated and Deborah Feldman’s Unorthodox. Memoir readers will want to check this one out." —
Library Journal

"A painful and propulsive memoir delivered in the honest tones of a woman who didn’t always think she’d live to tell her story." —The
New York Times

This program is read by the author.


In the vein of
Educated and The Glass Castle, Daniella Mestyanek Young's Uncultured is more than a memoir about an exceptional upbringing, but about a woman who, no matter the lack of tools given to her, is determined to overcome.

Behind the tall, foreboding gates of a commune in Brazil, Daniella Mestyanek Young was raised in the religious cult The Children of God, also known as The Family, as the daughter of high-ranking members. Her great-grandmother donated land for one of The Family’s first communes in Texas. Her mother, at thirteen, was forced to marry the leader and served as his secretary for many years. Beholden to The Family’s strict rules, Daniella suffers physical, emotional, and sexual abusemasked as godly discipline and divine loveand is forbidden from getting a traditional education.

At fifteen years old, fed up with The Family and determined to build a better and freer life for herself, Daniella escapes to Texas. There, she bravely enrolls herself in high school and excels, later graduating as valedictorian of her college class, then electing to join the military to begin a career as an intelligence officer, where she believes she will finally belong.

But she soon learns that her new worldsurrounded by men on the sands of Afghanistanlooks remarkably similar to the one she desperately tried to leave behind.

Told in a beautiful, propulsive voice and with clear-eyed honesty, Uncultured explores the dangers unleashed when harmful group mentality goes unrecognized, and is emblematic of the many ways women have to contort themselves to survive.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2022 Daniella Mestyanek Young (P)2022 Macmillan Audio
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What the critics say

"A tremendous story of grit and determination." —Julia Scheeres, New York Times bestselling author of Jesus Land

"Mestyanek Young searingly captures the fear and intensity that were her constant companions in the Children of God, and she draws smart parallels between the dogmatic 'indoctrination' she encountered in both the cult and the Army . . . Readers won’t be able to put down this harrowing and enthralling memoir." —Publishers Weekly (starred)

"Daniella Mestyanek Young’s searing memoir elegantly and intricately intertwines the worlds of religious cult and military, brilliantly displaying their similarities in a way that is as undeniable as it is disturbing. It is a brutal, necessary look at the inherent ways institutions attempt to confine women to limiting roles. Ultimately, it’s a story of resilience and Mestyanek Young’s ability to place one boot in front of the other in the face of the unimaginable." —Ryan Leigh Dostie, author of Formation and US Army veteran

What listeners say about Uncultured

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This has and will change my life.

Thank you for the pain it must of caused you to write this book. Its message and many lessons will echo through me for years to come. The only way they really win is when you dont share with the world who they really are. I see you.

This book should be something kids make book reports about. There are so many lessons. Thank you for writing it. Thank you for being you.

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Absolutely amazing story

Amazing story. Thank you for sharing your story Daniella. You have no idea how your strength and transparency has impacted survivors of trauma—both in childhood and adulthood. I see you. I cherish you. And I thank you again.

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Just wow

Such a horrific and inspiring story. Truly heartbreaking and unbelievably believable. Daniella is a wonderful reader of her work.

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Painful but incredibly powerful

The book is hard to listen to at times but Daniella does an excellent job telling her story. As a fellow survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to tell the world not only about that pain, but so much more. However, Daniella does so with vulnerability, strength, and grace. Daniella’s life is remarkable to say the least. Despite so much stacked against her, she emerges on the other side of it all stronger than ever before. Her memoir will not only touch other survivors of abuse, religious indoctrination, as well as military personnel and veterans, but anyone willing to take the time to listen. It will truly make you question what exactly constitutes a cult and think about how so much of this world is by design, not meant to be inclusive to those who do not follow “societal norms”. You are an amazing woman Daniella, and I hope you are so proud of what you have accomplished thus far. Thank you for telling your story.

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Wow. This was one of the best so far

I thought this would be a typical really tough childhood story, as I have ready MANY, but her life in the army was also fascinating. Very very good listen.

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Heartbreaking yet all too recognizable

This was such an emotional rollercoaster. The defining emotion one of anger and indignation. I wanted to jump in and defend her. I wanted to scream at my phone. This was beautifully narrated and eloquently written. I finished feeling proud of her and wanting to shake her hand and look her in the eye and let her know that I see her and I feel her pain. This audiobook made me feel less alone in my own struggles and trauma. I highly recommend this. Bravo *claps*

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This is not a book, it's a journey

This is such a powerful, well written and gripping story of survival. And a very relevant one, especially nowadays. I thought I had heard it all... I was wrong. It moved me to my core. The author's own reading is also extremely beautiful and powerful, it adds a lot to the experience. I binged it. A must.

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Incredible

An amazing story of courage and resilience, I could y stop listening. Well written and well narrated

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A must read

Absolutely amazing book and even better to follow it up with the narrative of the author, she writes beautifully and her voice peaceful telling us about something so cruel, showing us the human resilience is within us when we need it the most. Overcoming all the trauma and programming accessing reason and logic to be finally free and peacefully in your own skin and find real love in the systemite world. The comparison of such different cults with a good analysis of their methods by personal experience and reading, the love for learning made me empathize even more with the story. A delightful story that makes you cry, smile and sometimes both at the same time. Thanks a lot for writing it!!!

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A good read but…

I am a huge advocate for women’s rights, equity, etc…and this book started out with a shocking, sad story of the writers life. I personally stopped believing her story, when she had to go into such minute detail on why the incident in the army (when she was a captain), was in no way her fault. It did not make any sense how evidence, in her possession, inexplicably went missing, and the female officer involved, had a completely different account of their interaction.

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