JUDITH FREEMAN is the author of four novels--Red Water, The Chinchilla Farm, Set for Life, and A Desert of Pure Feeling--and of Family Attractions, a collection of stories, and The Long Embrace, a biography of Raymond Chandler. She lives in California and Idaho.
"The Latter Days is clean, strong and deep, a raging river of a
story that its author carried until she couldn't hold it back. It
is an arrow straight from Mormon country, from the Mountain West
and from the heart." --San Francisco Chronicle "Evocative....The
Latter Days candidly dramatizes Freeman's struggle to imagine other
possibilities for herself beyond the ones Mormonism dictated to
her." --Maureen Corrigan, NPR.org, "Best Books of 2016" "The Latter
Days, written with thoughtful, hard-won honesty, is the record of a
girl growing up in a closed society rigidly governed by a male
religious hierarchy - a profoundly undemocratic system that claims
to embody American values. Painfully but with no rancour, Judith
Freeman makes vivid the security of belonging and the rewards of
obedience, the costs of security and obedience, the rewards and
costs of seeking freedom. A brave and valuable book." --Ursula K.
Le Guin, author of The Left Hand of Darkness "This moving book came
at me like a secret lost letter from a friend, offering--in Judith
Freeman's trademark frank and pellucid prose--a rich and revealing
personal history in the world she knows as well as anyone: Utah, in
this case the patriarchal cloister of Utah in the 50's and 60's.
Her story is one of family succor and sorrow; and the flickering
origins of shame. This is an affecting and tender memoir as Ms.
Freeman displays the dark wonder of the forces that shape our life
choices." --Ron Carlson, author of Return to Oakpine
"The Latter Days arrived at four P.M. and I read until midnight,
unable to leave this memoir. Judith Freeman's book is elegant and
precise, as is always true of her prose. In this memoir of her
childhood and coming of age in a landscape of rigid belief and
constraint, the undertone of wonder and the heartbreaking moments
of trust that faltered, as it had to, Freeman sends rays of light
straight into the reader's heart." --Susan Straight, author of
Between Heaven and Here "I'm trying to put my finger on why the
story of a young girl's coming of age in a Mormon household in Utah
during the Fifties and Sixties--a girl who just happens to have
become one of our most prominent writers--has so captivated me.
Even more than the story itself, fascinating on its own merits, it
was the elegant style of its storytelling, the cool, unexpectedly
sophisticated tone. Unlike many a memoir of growing up in a
constricting, sometimes dangerous environment, Freeman lets the
evidence stand for itself. There's no hyperventilating-- did you
see how bad this was? Do you see how nuts this is? Can you believe?
Can you imagine?.... I was impressed by her even-handedness in her
memoir. We're given a picture of a time and a place, and of life
within an all-encompassing faith--in its positive aspects as well
as its strangeness....A compelling story, compulsively readable,
and its authorial voice--calm, keen-eyed, gracious but only to a
point--still rings inside me. An unusually elegant memoir of a
young girl's unique coming of age." --Janet Fitch, Goodreads "I
don't know that there has been a more effective mapping of the
subterranean emotional landscapes of day-to-day American religious
life than The Latter Days....[Freeman's] searching frankness allows
[her] both to talk honestly about choices [she's] made that others
might judge, but it also entitles [her] to find beneath the surface
piety of the Mormons around [her] during [her] childhood an
astounding range of human motivation. This strikes me as enormously
important given how Mormons have been caricatured--I think of the
Book of Mormon musical, for example--as being extraordinarily
flat....So often, especially when it comes to the lives of Mormon
women, I feel that there is no one but us to witness ourselves--and
no one to hear us. [Freeman] hear us." --Joanna Brooks, Religion
Dispatches, interview "Tender...With photographs jogging her
memories, Freeman immerses us in the rhythms of Mormon family
life....It flows slowly, a gentle stream of
recollections...coalescing into eloquence." --Chicago Tribune
"Judith Freeman takes readers on an insightful and frank journey
that explores her upbringing and her relationships. The Latter Days
is what every memoir should be: honest to its core and so well
crafted that the reader can't put it down." --Writer's Bone
"Poignant....Freeman writes with the clear voice of a person who's
(mostly) shed the trappings of the past." --Publishers Weekly "A
novelist's account of her early life growing up Mormon in Utah and
the family memories she kept hidden from herself....highly
readable....A poignant, searching memoir of self discovery."
--Kirkus Reviews "There's a uniquely contemplative quality to
Judith Freeman's The Latter Days, which chronicles a life in a
1950s/1960s Utah Mormon family that is both typical and
fascinatingly specific....The Latter Days is more than just a
chronicle of growing up Mormon. It is instead a chronicle of
growing away from being Mormon, requiring an understanding of how
all-encompassing an identity that was before she began to drift
away from belief in that faith, both as a rebellious teen and
through the crises in her marriage. As such, there's a mournful
quality to the writing, even as Freeman works through the various
separations in her life--from the church, from Utah and eventually
from her husband--toward understanding the forces that shaped her."
--Salt Lake City Weekly "The book's detailed exploration of Utah
Mormon culture might attract national readers, but just as
intriguing is how Freeman's story functions as a cultural memoir of
a young woman coming of age in the 1950s....As a narrator,
Freeman's voice is direct and distanced, recounting the
encompassing collective of her family and LDS neighbors, while
examining the repressed sexuality of a patriarchal culture. She
describes her younger self as a wild girl in love with horses, who
is surprised by an early encounter with the significance of making
art." --The Salt Lake Tribune
"Searing....there is always great pleasure for the reader in
Freeman's exacting, sensory descriptions." --LA Review of Books
"Freeman's story of self-discovery and falling away from the Mormon
Church will resonate strongly with many readers, particularly since
in some ways not all that much has changed. In April 2016 the The
Salt Lake Tribune broke a story about victims of sexual assault at
LDS church-run Brigham Young University who are routinely expelled
for Honor Code violations due to a blame-the-victim mentality.
Mormon women interviewed for the news story told of being
overwhelmed by guilt and shame and said that they lacked a
vocabulary to even talk about what had happened to them. Freeman
would recognize the problem. Nonetheless, her memoir is not
stridently anti-Mormon and in parts she recounts spiritual
experiences connected to her childhood faith and pride in her
family history." --15 Bytes "A bittersweet, luminous journey."
--Barnes & Noble Review "Fascinating." --New York Journal of Books
"For those readers outside the Mormon tradition, The Latter Days
offers some marvelous insights into the faith, as Freeman blends
church history and doctrine into her childhood stories, giving
readers a stronger sense of both the draw of this faith for Freeman
and her family, and the difficultly she faces when she moves away
and begins meeting colleagues and friends who are not Mormon -- or
who are not religious at all....Freeman certainly has a fascinating
life story." --Cedar Rapids Gazette
"A remarkable memoir....beautifully written....insightful social
and religious commentary." --Dialogue Journal
The Latter Days is clean, strong and deep, a raging river of a
story that its author carried until she couldn t hold it back. It
is an arrow straight from Mormon country, from the Mountain West
and from the heart. San Francisco Chronicle
Evocative .The Latter Days candidly dramatizes Freeman s struggle
to imagine other possibilities for herself beyond the ones
Mormonism dictated to her. Maureen Corrigan, NPR.org, Best Books of
2016
The Latter Days, written with thoughtful, hard-won honesty, is the
record of a girl growing up in a closed society rigidly governed by
a male religious hierarchy a profoundly undemocratic system that
claims to embody American values. Painfully but with no rancour,
Judith Freeman makes vivid the security of belonging and the
rewards of obedience, the costs of security and obedience, the
rewards and costs of seeking freedom. A brave and valuable book.
Ursula K. Le Guin, author of The Left Hand of Darkness
This moving book came at me like a secret lost letter from a
friend, offering in Judith Freeman s trademark frank and pellucid
prose a rich and revealing personal history in the world she knows
as well as anyone: Utah, in this case the patriarchal cloister of
Utah in the 50 s and 60 s. Her story is one of family succor and
sorrow; and the flickering origins of shame. This is an affecting
and tender memoir as Ms. Freeman displays the dark wonder of the
forces that shape our life choices. Ron Carlson, author of Return
to Oakpine
The Latter Days arrived at four P.M. and I read until midnight,
unable to leave this memoir. Judith Freeman s book is elegant and
precise, as is always true of her prose. In this memoir of her
childhood and coming of age in a landscape of rigid belief and
constraint, the undertone of wonder and the heartbreaking moments
of trust that faltered, as it had to, Freeman sends rays of light
straight into the reader s heart. Susan Straight, author of Between
Heaven and Here
I m trying to put my finger on why the story of a young girl s
coming of age in a Mormon household in Utah during the Fifties and
Sixties a girl who just happens to have become one of our most
prominent writers has so captivated me.Even more than the story
itself, fascinating on its own merits, it was the elegant style of
its storytelling, the cool, unexpectedly sophisticated tone. Unlike
many a memoir of growing up in a constricting, sometimes dangerous
environment, Freeman lets the evidence stand for itself. There s no
hyperventilating did you see how bad this was? Do you see how nuts
this is? Can you believe? Can you imagine?.... I was impressed by
her even-handedness in her memoir. We re given a picture of a time
and a place, and of life within an all-encompassing faith in its
positive aspects as well as its strangeness .A compelling story,
compulsively readable, and its authorial voice calm, keen-eyed,
gracious but only to a point still rings inside me. An unusually
elegant memoir of a young girl s unique coming of age. Janet Fitch,
Goodreads
I don t know that there has been a more effective mapping of the
subterranean emotional landscapes of day-to-day American religious
life thanThe Latter Days .[Freeman s] searching frankness allows
[her] both to talk honestly about choices [she s] made that others
might judge, but it also entitles [her] to find beneath the surface
piety of the Mormons around [her] during [her] childhood an
astounding range of human motivation. This strikes me as enormously
important given how Mormons have been caricatured I think of
theBook of Mormon musical, for example as being extraordinarily
flat .So often, especially when it comes to the lives of Mormon
women, I feel that there is no one but us to witness ourselves and
no one to hear us. [Freeman] hear us. Joanna Brooks, Religion
Dispatches, interview
Tender With photographs jogging her memories, Freeman immerses us
in the rhythms of Mormon family life .It flows slowly, a gentle
stream of recollections coalescing into eloquence. Chicago
Tribune
Judith Freeman takes readers on an insightful and frank journey
that explores her upbringing and her relationships. The Latter Days
is what every memoir should be: honest to its core and so well
crafted that the reader can t put it down. Writer s Bone
Poignant .Freeman writes with the clear voice of a person who s
(mostly) shed the trappings of the past. Publishers Weekly
A novelist s account of her early life growing up Mormon in Utah
and the family memories she kept hidden from herself....highly
readable .A poignant, searching memoir of self discovery. Kirkus
Reviews
There s a uniquely contemplative quality to Judith Freeman sThe
Latter Days, which chronicles a life in a 1950s/1960s Utah Mormon
family that is both typical and fascinatingly specific .The Latter
Daysis more than just a chronicle of growing up Mormon. It is
instead a chronicle of growingawayfrom being Mormon, requiring an
understanding of how all-encompassing an identity that was before
she began to drift away from belief in that faith, both as a
rebellious teen and through the crises in her marriage. As such,
there s a mournful quality to the writing, even as Freeman works
through the various separations in her life from the church, from
Utah and eventually from her husband toward understanding the
forces that shaped her. Salt Lake City Weekly
The book s detailed exploration of Utah Mormon culture might
attract national readers, but just as intriguing is how Freeman's
story functions as a cultural memoir of a young woman coming of age
in the 1950s .As a narrator, Freeman s voice is direct and
distanced, recounting the encompassing collective of her family and
LDS neighbors, while examining the repressed sexuality of a
patriarchal culture. She describes her younger self as a wild girl
in love with horses, who is surprised by an early encounter with
the significance of making art. The Salt Lake Tribune
Searing .there is always great pleasure for the reader in Freeman s
exacting, sensory descriptions. LA Review of Books
Freeman s story of self-discovery and falling away from the Mormon
Church will resonate strongly with many readers, particularly since
in some ways not all that much has changed. In April 2016 theThe
Salt Lake Tribunebroke a story about victims of sexual assault at
LDS church-run Brigham Young University who are routinely expelled
for Honor Code violations due to a blame-the-victim mentality.
Mormon women interviewed for the news story told of being
overwhelmed by guilt and shame and said that they lacked a
vocabulary to even talk about what had happened to them. Freeman
would recognize the problem. Nonetheless, her memoir is not
stridently anti-Mormon and in parts she recounts spiritual
experiences connected to her childhood faith and pride in her
family history. 15 Bytes
"A bittersweet, luminous journey." Barnes & Noble Review
Fascinating. New York Journal of Books
For those readers outside the Mormon tradition, The Latter Days
offers some marvelous insights into the faith, as Freeman blends
church history and doctrine into her childhood stories, giving
readers a stronger sense of both the draw of this faith for Freeman
and her family, and the difficultly she faces when she moves away
and begins meeting colleagues and friends who are not Mormon or who
are not religious at all .Freeman certainly has a fascinating life
story. Cedar Rapids Gazette
A remarkable memoir .beautifully written .insightful social and
religious commentary. Dialogue Journal"
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