Shake That Cream - Ellen Black

It's 1985, and Ellen Black's parents have unexpectedly shown up at her New York City apartment on a mission to kidnap her baby daughter.

Ellen's poignant, sometimes darkly funny portrait of abuse, survival and resilience begins first with her fight to keep her child safe. Then Ellen takes the reader back in time as she recounts her experiences growing up in a religious cult in small town East Texas.

In the late 1950s, after hearing the persuasive voice of Herbert W. Armstrong preaching on the radio, Ellen's parents join his cult, the Worldwide Church of God. One more contributing factor to the dysfunctional family Ellen grows up in.

Ellen never let anyone know of her physical and emotional pain. Instead, she funnels her pain into humor and learns how to make others laugh. As an adult, she continues to fail in her quest to gain her parents' love. Instead, she wishes only to break the cycle of toxicity that has plagued her family for generations.