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Deliver Us From Mother: Faith, Fear, and the Family Cult That Broke Me
What happens when the person who teaches you about Salvation becomes the person you need saving from?
Growing up, Stella McCormick believed her family was different because they were more faithful than everyone else. Homeschooled in a deeply controlling religious environment, she was taught that unquestioning obedience was a virtue, suffering was sanctifying, and the outside world was something to fear. Every rule, punishment, and sacrifice was justified as God's will.
For years, she accepted it all without question.
Until the questions became impossible to ignore.
In Deliver Us From Mother, Stella shares the raw, deeply personal story of growing up in a family where faith and fear became so intertwined that it was nearly impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. As the foundation of everything she believed begins to crack, she must confront painful truths about her childhood, her family, and herself, and decide whether walking away means losing everything or finally finding freedom.
Honest, compassionate, and ultimately hopeful, Deliver Us From Mother is more than a memoir about surviving abuse. It is a story about reclaiming identity, challenging lifelong beliefs, breaking generational cycles, and discovering that healing is possible even after the deepest wounds.
Perfect for readers of Educated, I'm Glad My Mom Died, and The Glass Castle, this unforgettable memoir explores religious extremism, family dysfunction, resilience, and the courage it takes to choose your own future.
Growing up, Stella McCormick believed her family was different because they were more faithful than everyone else. Homeschooled in a deeply controlling religious environment, she was taught that unquestioning obedience was a virtue, suffering was sanctifying, and the outside world was something to fear. Every rule, punishment, and sacrifice was justified as God's will.
For years, she accepted it all without question.
Until the questions became impossible to ignore.
In Deliver Us From Mother, Stella shares the raw, deeply personal story of growing up in a family where faith and fear became so intertwined that it was nearly impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. As the foundation of everything she believed begins to crack, she must confront painful truths about her childhood, her family, and herself, and decide whether walking away means losing everything or finally finding freedom.
Honest, compassionate, and ultimately hopeful, Deliver Us From Mother is more than a memoir about surviving abuse. It is a story about reclaiming identity, challenging lifelong beliefs, breaking generational cycles, and discovering that healing is possible even after the deepest wounds.
Perfect for readers of Educated, I'm Glad My Mom Died, and The Glass Castle, this unforgettable memoir explores religious extremism, family dysfunction, resilience, and the courage it takes to choose your own future.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 11, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 14, 2026
This book will resonate with anyone born into the 80's/90's fundamentalist homeschooling purity culture. Bring tissues 😭
August 13, 2026
Was waiting for this release after seeing Stella on TikTok. A very insightful memoir shining a light on religious abuse that ruled her childhood. At times you could feel the pain, anguish and disgust she felt. I do feel that the book was repetitive though at other points in the book, retelling the same point/memory throughout. Still a good book and worth reading.
August 19, 2026
Powerful!
As a former social worker who worked with children in schools and privately helping children removed by CPS, I feel this book in my core. The author is brave in her writing, and her continual ability to keep looking for herself even when she didn’t know that’s what she was doing. To every person thinking of working with children, may this book open your eyes to the love they all deserve. Bravo, Stella!
As a former social worker who worked with children in schools and privately helping children removed by CPS, I feel this book in my core. The author is brave in her writing, and her continual ability to keep looking for herself even when she didn’t know that’s what she was doing. To every person thinking of working with children, may this book open your eyes to the love they all deserve. Bravo, Stella!
August 20, 2026
A powerful and deeply moving story! The author put a lot into this memoir and it shows.
September 1, 2026
Well worth the read <3
I came across her story scrolling on Facebook just a few day before her memoir launched. While outraged, heartbroken and sadden at the events she was retelling; I could see her strength, her desire for justice, the need for someone to listen, to speak up for and the realness of the events. I picked up the book immediately, I wanted to try and understand. I am sorry for what you had to endure, but I am so grateful you were able to survive and get out. Thank you for sharing your journey I wish you nothing but continued strength, support and a long life of love and happiness. I wish you all the best and I hope your siblings find peace.
I just finished her book. The history and the journey and the act of sharing her story that is depicted in it will break your heart. It brought tears to my eyes several times. She has considerable strength of character and I am thankful she shared her life story. It is her history, not just a story; it is raw, and real and felt like you were having a conversation as if she is talking directly to you. To even realize that level of let's just say "not parenting" is active in the modern age is deplorable. There is just so much. The act of asking for and accepting help, realization, acceptance, acknowledgement and the desire to make things different and better are all incredibly difficult things to do. Worth it!<3
I came across her story scrolling on Facebook just a few day before her memoir launched. While outraged, heartbroken and sadden at the events she was retelling; I could see her strength, her desire for justice, the need for someone to listen, to speak up for and the realness of the events. I picked up the book immediately, I wanted to try and understand. I am sorry for what you had to endure, but I am so grateful you were able to survive and get out. Thank you for sharing your journey I wish you nothing but continued strength, support and a long life of love and happiness. I wish you all the best and I hope your siblings find peace.
I just finished her book. The history and the journey and the act of sharing her story that is depicted in it will break your heart. It brought tears to my eyes several times. She has considerable strength of character and I am thankful she shared her life story. It is her history, not just a story; it is raw, and real and felt like you were having a conversation as if she is talking directly to you. To even realize that level of let's just say "not parenting" is active in the modern age is deplorable. There is just so much. The act of asking for and accepting help, realization, acceptance, acknowledgement and the desire to make things different and better are all incredibly difficult things to do. Worth it!<3
August 15, 2026
This was a difficult read due to the horrific abuse that the children in this book had to endure. The author does a good job describing how horrible her childhood was, and just how normal she thought it was. It’s a must read, a testament to the human spirit! Stella has a lot of trauma to unpack but she’s her own person, and faces such a dilemma between doing the right thing and yet not wanting to. The bigger lesson here is to pay attention when something isn’t right and to report it. These kids were failed all of their lives by people who had to know something was wrong. Good prevailed over evil here.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2026
Wow... Just wow.
I have 1st hand knowledge of some of this and feel like a dolt for missing other aspects of this. I will say this... as someone who has known this extraordinary young lady for years and years now. She has always done the hard thing. Not to show off, but because it was right. Please go read this book... so that you can look for signs in the "perfect" families you know. There are more kids that need the grown ups to pay attention and save them.
I have 1st hand knowledge of some of this and feel like a dolt for missing other aspects of this. I will say this... as someone who has known this extraordinary young lady for years and years now. She has always done the hard thing. Not to show off, but because it was right. Please go read this book... so that you can look for signs in the "perfect" families you know. There are more kids that need the grown ups to pay attention and save them.
September 10, 2026
This story, this journey, was told so eloquently. A great balance of heartbreak and hope. For anyone healing from trauma of any time, the message speaks clear: you are not broken, you are not defined by your experiences, you will make it, and you have the power of choice, and that is truly the greatest gift we can all give ourselves. Thank you Stella for both your story and your message!
August 30, 2026
Stella put us in her shoes, in her situation , in her life and I'll never be the same. Thank you for sharing your journey of abuse, epiphanies, and recovery. I want to know more and I was not ready for her story to pause. I can't wait to read more !!!
September 7, 2026
Strength and endurance
What a powerful recollection of life, of overcoming the odds, of becoming, of excepting and of letting go of what is necessary.
What a powerful recollection of life, of overcoming the odds, of becoming, of excepting and of letting go of what is necessary.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews