Apocalypse child - Flor Edwards

For the first thirteen years of her life, Flor Edwards grew up in the Children of God. The group's nomadic existence was based on the belief that, as God's chosen people, they would be saved in the impending apocalypse that would envelop the rest of the world in 1993. Flor would be thirteen years old. The group's charismatic leader, Father David, kept the family on the move, from Los Angeles to Bangkok to Chicago, where they would eventually disband, leaving Flor to make sense of the foreign world of mainstream society around her. Apocalypse Child is a cathartic journey through Flor's memories of growing up within a group with unconventional views on education, religion, and sex. Whimsically referring to herself as a real life Kimmy Schmidt, Edwards's clear-eyed memoir is a story of survival in a childhood lived on the fringes.

Flor Edwards is an author and lives in Los Angeles, California. By age twelve, Flor had lived in 24 different locations across three continents. Always on the move to escape the Antichrist and in preparation for the Apocalypse in 1993, her nomadic childhood prompted her to pen her forthcoming memoir Apocalypse Child. In her debut memoir, Flor movingly describes her early life growing up with her family and 11 siblings as a member of The Children of God, a controversial religious movement that many describe as an apocalyptic cult.

"Flor Edwards's APOCALYPSE CHILD is an engrossing account of growing up within the strangely insular Children of God cult. With expressive yet measured candor, Edwards conveys her sense of identity confusion and outrage during a time of readjustment, as well as her eventual journey to greater self-acceptance and spiritual peace."-Foreword Reviews

"Edwards grippingly chronicles her bizarre childhood within a California cult in her smart debut. This is a wrenching testimony about a complicated childhood reclaimed."-Publishers Weekly

"The moving story carries a muted, often dark sense of humor, with a wry sense of timing. An impressive religious memoir-candid and inspiring without being sensationalistic or self-pitying."-Kirkus Reviews

"As a child, when given spending money for the first time, Flor Edwards purchased a pen. She wasn't allowed to use it-the cult she grew up in didn't allow for individual creative expression-but she carried it around like a totem. How lucky we are that she wields a pen now, that she has claimed her own voice, that she has found the perfect words to share her compelling, unconventional story."-Gayle Brandeis, author of The Art of Misdiagnosis

"An astounding work written with indelible clarity and style. APOCALYPSE CHILD is a brilliant and vivid depiction of what goes on behind the walls of a cult-revealing how terror permeates each and every waking moment. Flor Edwards is a wise and savvy soul who was forced to dance the dance-intuitively knowing it was wrong-but also knew she had to do everything in her power to be set free. A singular achievement."-Diana Raab, author of Regina's Closet and Writing for Bliss

""APOCALYPSE CHILD is a beautifully crafted narrative about growing up in a religious cult in the 1980s.
While candid and revealing of the extreme practices within a secret society, the writer retells the story of her life with compassion and remarkable wisdom.
A compelling, important memoir by an unusually gifted author."-Simon Van Booy, author of Everything Beautiful Began After and The Illusion of Separateness

"An addictive, deeply emotional, and terrifyingly true account of growing up in a religious cult. Apocalypse Child heralds an exciting new literary voice. I can't wait to read more by Flor Edwards."-Reza Aslan, author of Zealot and God: A Human History