coming-of-age

A sheltered church girl. A quiet, secret rebellion. Can she become the person she wants to be? In 1983 Chicago, Glory Bishop yearns to be normal. Under the strict thumb of her abusive and zealous mother, the anxious teenager finds relief in stolen moments and kisses with her boyfriend. But when she provides him an alibi against another girl’s disturbing accusation, she catches the eye of the preacher’s son – the twenty-seven-year-old youth minister.

This is the story of a confident young girl who became a lost teenager, wanted to disappear, started to find herself, discovered love, was wild, reckless, and confused, but ultimately found a way to be okay. Told in her words as she lived them through her diaries, journals, poetry, and letters.

A love story of self, of past, of present, of future. One woman’s journey to put the pieces of her life together in the most meaningful way — at times chaotic, at times cathartic, but ultimately beautiful in all its imperfect pieces.

At age 12, I was made a 'ward of the courts in need of moral protection', and placed under the care of the Devon County Council's Children's Committee, where I remained until I reached age 18. Set against a backdrop of Beatlemania and the sexual revolution, "Raised by Committee" is set in Devon, England, and takes readers on a roller coaster ride through my teen years. Watch as I struggle to come to terms with sexual abuse and abandonment, and mature into a young woman ready to take on the world ...