In her memoir titled Wholly Unraveled, Burgin recounts those early years of her life, and the journey she traveled towards finding herself and her purpose in a turbulent world.
Keele Burgin Opens her Story to the World
Over the last few decades the phenomenon of religious cults, especially in first-world countries, has gained major traction with both researchers and the popular media. We keep trying to study and understand them, all while turning them into a seemingly-essential element of half the horror movies ever made.
For the majority of us, we have the benefit of being able to observe these cults from a great distance, probably from the comfort of your chair or living room sofa... so much so it becomes easy to forget not everyone is as fortunate, as we will clearly see in Keele Burgin's memoir, Wholly Unraveled.
For those who are unfamiliar with the author and her work in the world, Burgin has dedicated much of her existence to working with nonprofit organizations and helping to empower women of all ages across the globe.
Unfortunately, her existence wasn't always defined by her strong sense of power and worthiness, for she was indeed raised in a Catholic cult ruled by fear, violence and constant abuse.
In this memoir she takes us to the hardest part of her life, the one which ended up defining her and giving her immeasurable strength despite the omnipresent darkness.
Additionally, Burgin also takes the time to detail her life after she managed to escape the cult and ended up in a small remote rural community in Canada.
We get to learn about the year she spent in almost total silence, fighting her inner demons and almost metamorphosing into a new person with a renewed sense of purpose and understanding of herself.
Ultimately, this memoir is as much an expose on just how terrifying life in a religious cult can really be as it is a story of courage and triumph in the face of challenges unthinkable for most of us.
Study of a Cult
The way I see it, this book is essentially divided into two very clear-cut parts: Burgin's life before escaping the cult, and her journey after. As such, I will simply begin by broaching the first half of the book, the one which initially drew my attention.
Though it feels a bit silly now after reading the whole thing, when I picked it up I was really only interested in the study of a religious cult as seen through the rare perspective of someone who was actually inside one. From this point of view, I will say the book did not disappoint one bit.
As difficult as I imagine it might be for the author, she doesn't shy away from describing the more difficult and violent moments of her upbringing, and she does it with such honesty and precision I couldn't help but feel a tremendous amount of anger towards the fact the cult even exists.
With this being said, Burgin doesn't go into overly wordy descriptions nor does she ever specifically try to get a reaction from the reader. Rather, she simply recounts her life as she remembers it, and there is already much more than enough there for a wide spectrum of reactions.
Educationally-speaking, I do believe this book provides some important insight into not only how these cults function, but also how they keep on existing while perpetually attracting new members, a fact which, to me, was incomprehensible for a very long time.
This book certainly doesn't hold all the answers, but it does take us one step closer to seeing those cults for what they truly are: a sick individual's power trip whose followers seek belonging and acceptance, sometimes at any cost. While it might not be a peer-reviewed study, I do believe we can classify this as essential literature in the study of religious cults.
Facing Insurmountable Odds
The second part of the book, as I mentioned above, wasn't initially very interesting to me, or at least the idea of it. However, I will be glad to say I was proven very much wrong on this front, something I understood relatively quickly once Burgin began to delve into her evolving state of mind during her year of silence after the escape.
For starters, the way I see it, this part still relates to the study of cults, detailing the psychological, emotional and spiritual damage they inflict on their members, especially the children.
I have the impression the author did the best job humanly possible in exposing her pain to the world and sharing with us as much of it as she can. There were even a couple of parts where I felt the need to put the book down to digest the heft of the suffering; it's certainly the kind of book which stays with you and makes you grateful for simply never having had to go through this.
Thankfully, there is also some light and hope in this part of the book, specifically when the author talks about her journey towards overcoming the many demons nestled in her head since childhood.
The Final Verdict
Wholly Unraveled by Keele Burgin is without a doubt one of the more captivating and powerful memoirs I've read in recent years, to the point where I feel it should be a mandatory read for anyone interested in cult studies.
Apart from this though, it also contains a true story of reforging oneself, finding unshakable strength and a place in a world where none seemed to exist. I highly recommend this book to literally anyone who has even the slightest interest in nonfiction literature.
 | Keele BurginPersonal site Keele Burgin is an author, activist, filmmaker, entrepreneur and a mother of three whose personal struggles have inspired her to try and help teens and women across the globe. She has been working with numerous nonprofit organizations focused on empowering women for over twenty-five years now. As a writer, she has so far published a single book titled Wholly Unraveled, a memoir of the life leading her to become the rather special person she is today. |
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