The Truth Book: A Memoir

By Joy Castro

Book Overview

Adopted as a baby and raised by a devout Jehovah's Witness family, Joy Castro is constantly reminded to tell the truth no matter what the consequences. Nevertheless, Castro finds this tenet to be the most violated. Here, in her very own Truth Book, Castro bears witness to a childhood lost but a life regained.

Castro's parents divorce after her father is excommunicated for smoking. She is twelve when her mother marries a "brother" in the church who, though exhibiting an impeccable public persona, is violent and controlling at home. For two years, Joy does not grow at all; in fact, she loses sixteen pounds in response to the physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse she suffers at his hands. Her battered mother does nothing to protect her, nor does her church. She is sustained by humor, books, and her protective love for her younger brother until their daring escape. This courageous personal account looks freshly at the disturbing effects of religious hypocrisy and the resilience of the human spirit.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803240627
• ISBN13: 9780803240629
• Release Date: September 2012
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.8" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A Real Gem

Joy Castro has a very down-to-earth account of her life as a JW to relay, and she does it in a highly personal and readable style without being maudlin. I too am a former Jehovah's Witness, but a male, so there were a few things I had to actively try to empathise with, but not many. I've read virtualy every book by a former JW, and this one is very special. My female friends who are former JW's especailly enjoyed The Truth Book. (A very clever title by the way for those of you who aren't former JWs) Five stars and two thumbs up for The Truth Book. NJM Author of JEHOVAH UNMASKED and I WAS A TEENAGE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS.

More Truthful Than We'd Like To Think

I grew up as a JW as did Ms. Castro, and I happen to share her first name, as my mother thought it a good idea to name me after "one of the fruitages of the spirit" mentioned in the bible. I read Ms. Castro's book in three days, which is unheard of for me. Her writing is very real, giving life and dimension to the all-too-truthful events and people she describes. I was surprised that I did not cry while reading her story, as she does not write in a manner asking for sympathy or pity - she is merely relating events as they occurred in a very eloquent and readable fashion. I grew to like Joy and to view her as a friend, as even though we have never met, we have shared many experiences. I physically cringed at the all-too-familiar tales of beatings at the kingdom hall for the sin of fidgeting in your chair at ages where children should not be expected to sit for more than five minutes at a time. My stomach grew tight at the memory of being forced to sit outside in the hall at school during holiday or birthday celebrations, wishing fervently I could join in and then feeling guilty for my "bad heart condition". The horror described in this book is very real in the lives of countless JW children and wives. If they are not beaten physically, their spirits are still beaten down so that they will never question what they are told to do. I highly applaud Ms. Castro's masterpiece and highly recommend that anyone, former JW or not, enlighten themselves with this very touching account of a very serious subject.

Amazing story, well written!

Joy Castro, a survivor of child abuse within the Watchtower Organization, tells her horrifying, true story, holding the readers attention to the very end. For those familiar with the inner workings of Jehovah's Witnesses, the inaction by the elders leading the congregation, will ring as a proverbial truth; or worst yet, experience. Joy Castro, with an obvious command of the English language, writes in a style very easy on the reader's eye and psyche. This is a must read for anyone looking for the survival and triumph of the abused and downtrodden. A truly wonderful story!

With Every Turn of the Page, this Book Pulls You in Even More...

I could relate to so much of what Joy describes in her book--the abuse, the sense of helplessness, the isolation, the fear. The way she created a fantasy world in her mind to escape the weekly Kingdom Hall meetings and the way "mouthy girl," a worldly influence, brought incite and revelation into her world. I commend Joy for consciously making her own child's world so much better than her own by becoming a better parent than her parent(s) were to her. Joy is definitely a survivor! Well done. It was an account brilliantly written! I highly recommend Joy's book. -- Brenda Lee, author of "Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman's Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult" (to be released in a few months).

Knowing Joy Castro

I thought I knew Joy Castro pretty well. We've worked together for seven or eight years; I've read her frequent submissions to Wabash Magazine, online journals, magazines and newspapers; and I've even sat in on her classes a few times. She is meticulously polite, soft-spoken, and always eager to collaborate on a range of projects to improve education and provide access to it. I thought I knew her pretty well. Then I read The Truth Book. Subtitled "Escaping a childhood of abuse among Jehovah's Witnesses," Joy's memoir tells the story of a brutal stepfather who routinely beat her and her brother, Tony. They were denied television, books, and given only tiny portions of food to eat. They were told how to walk, talk, and behave. They wore only second and third-hand clothes. All in the name of Jehovah. After reading an advance copy of the book, I kept asking myself, "Why isn't she angry? Why didn't she end up on the streets? How could she be such a caring, loving mother to her son when she was denied such basic instincts from her own mother? Why doesn't she show the scars of her abuse?" But the book isn't just about the abuse Joy and her brother suffered. In many ways, it's a book about hope and will and sacrifice. It's the true story of a young woman with an imagination off the charts, whose love of books and the written word propelled her to a graduate degree in English and a tenured position in the English department at Wabash College; whose unfailing love of her son has no boundaries. Joy was denied even a scrap of respect as a child. Today she is respectful of others, and quintessentially respected by her colleagues, students, and anyone who has read her work. If you know Joy Castro you never could imagine the abuses of her childhood and struggles as a young mother. You only know her as she is today, as I do, which makes me understand that The Truth Book is really, ultimately a story of redemption. But those are my words. Joy is the only one who knows the true meaning of the book: "You try to be decent and treat people gently, knowing that they, too, have their scars and madnesses that, like yours, do not show." Read the book. It'll make you want to live your life differently. And maybe, just maybe, you'll treat people - even those you think you know well - with the gentle kindness that is respectful of any hidden scars.