In this poignant and disturbing memoir of lost innocence, coercion, survival, and healing, Dianne Lake chronicles her years with Charles Manson, revealing for the first time how she became the youngest member of his Family and offering new insights into one of the twentieth centuryâs most notorious criminals and life as one of his ""girls.""
At age fourteen Dianne Lakeâwith little more than a note in her pocket from her hippie parents granting her permission to leave themâbecame one of ""Charlieâs girls,"" a devoted acolyte of cult leader Charles Manson. Over the course of two years, the impressionable teenager endured manipulation, psychological control, and physical abuse as the harsh realities and looming darkness of Charles Mansonâs true nature revealed itself. From Spahn ranch and the group acid trips, to the Beatlesâ White Album and Mansonâs dangerous messiah-complex, Dianne tells the riveting story of the groupâs descent into madness as she lived it.
Though she never participated in any of the groupâs gruesome crimes and was purposely insulated from them, Dianne was arrested with the rest of the Manson Family, and eventually learned enough to join the prosecutionâs case against them. With the help of good Samaritans, including the cop who first arrested her and later adopted her, the courageous young woman eventually found redemption and grew up to lead an ordinary life.
While much has been written about Charles Manson, this riveting account from an actual Family member is a chilling portrait that recreates in vivid detail one of the most horrifying and fascinating chapters in modern American history.