Forager details one woman's childhood surviving in a cult. Michelle learns to live from the land - which plants to eat, where to get water, how to survive - all while dealing with the misogyny of her grandfather's faith. She grew up on a mountain in the Angeles National Forest and called the outdoors her home and refuge. Her grandfather's followers and family were preparing for the end times and being able to survive off the land was a must. Michelle and her siblings learned how to deal with starvation of resources and of love. Each chapter opens with an illustrated plant and its many uses which help add to this autobiography. Eventually Michelle gathers the courage and the strength to flee the cult and develop her own wings. Of interest to those who enjoy reading about cults and to naturalists and those who love to live off the land. ( )

This is one of the most beautifully written memoirs that could also be called "spare" so for that I give full accolades. Dowd's childhood was horrifically abusive and cruel. She relays it in chapters named for the wild plants she foraged to eat. I mean, goodness, what a horrific heuristic to use yet what an affecting one.

I wish we got to learn more about Dowd's grandfather's cultic beliefs and how they led to her parents' abusive behavior as well as the interaction that her nuclear family had with the rotating cast of cult members. While this book isn't precisely about the cult's beliefs, the fact that Dowd gives us so little information makes it hard for readers to piece together how these things connect, particularly the reveal toward the end that her mother was a somewhat well known local expert. I mean, how? How does this fit with the gender roles internally?

Not for the faint of heart. I liked it and I hope it was cathartic for Dowd to write. ( )

This was a fascinating look inside a cult from a child's perspective. The children were left to fend for themselves most of the time, so some of the "foraging" info is provided.

This was a very interesting memoir. Michelle Dowd suffered so much abuse - mental, physical and sexual - at the hands of the people who were supposed to take care of her. It is incredible that she had the strength and conviction to get out of the cult she was raised in and live the life she wanted. I also liked the facts about the edible plants at the beginning of each chapter. Thanks to LibraryThing for the ARC. ( )

Spare, focused, affecting. I learned things about myself and about the world from this book, some of which will take time to sink in.

(NB: I read an advance reading copy given to me by the book's publisher.)

CN: every kind of child abuse including sexual and physical, both graphic and implied; child neglect, parentification; domestic violence, religious abuse and shunning, the experience of being raised in a cult; serious autoimmune illness in a child, hospitals, disordered eating, medical treatment, psychiatric treatment, untreated mental illness ( )