The Long Prison Journey of Leslie van Houten: Life Beyond the Cult (Northeastern Series on Gender, Crime, and Law) [Hardcover]

Karlene Faith (Author)

Book Description

Series: Northeastern Series on Gender, Crime, and Law | Publication Date: May 10, 2001

At the age of twenty-one, Leslie Van Houten was sentenced to death, along with Charles Manson and his other disciples, for the infamous murder rampage spanning two nights in August 1969. Leslie, who was present at the Rosemary and Leno LaBianca stabbings, serenely accepted her sentence, wishing only that she had better served Manson in carrying out his apocalyptic vision of "Helter Skelter." When the United States temporarily suspended its death penalty, her sentence for murder conspiracy was converted to life in prison. Today, at the age of 51, after three trials and with no parole in sight, Leslie has become a remarkable survivor of a living nightmare.

This work tells about Karlene Faith's thirty-year friendship with Leslie, whom she met while teaching in prison. To everyone who encountered Leslie-including prison staff and television journalists-she was not the demon typically portrayed by the media, but rather a gentle, generous spirit who mourned her victims. But why didn't this intelligent young woman see the evil in the "messiah" who had sexually exploited her, preached a racist ideology, and ordered her to murder?

Faith pieces together the puzzle, starting with Leslie's spiritual quest within the sixties counterculture and her immediate attraction to Manson during a chance meeting. We learn of Manson's ability to look into her mind and commiserate with her turmoil. We also see his own need to control women and how his brainwashing techniques enabled his followers to embrace him as God, giving them little choice but to obey.

Leslie's journey out of Manson's grasp is a riveting feminist and spiritual story of recovering one's self. Why this rehabilitated woman, long punished for one man's madness, has not been able to leave prison is another story Faith brings to light. Filled with accounts of political injustices, this powerful book moves the reader to rethink the meanings and limits of guilt and punishment.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Faith offers an intelligent argument on behalf of Leslie Van Houten, arguably the least culpable and most rehabilitated of the infamous "Manson girls." A Canadian criminology professor, Faith (Simon Fraser Univ.) has visited and corresponded with Van Houten since 1972, when Faith was teaching at the institution where Van Houten was imprisoned. She felt drawn to the three Manson women, whose death sentences were commuted that year, yet who were kept in isolation until the late 1970s. Faith acknowledges the particular revulsion directed toward the associates of Manson, but asserts that these women were "victims of a tortured boy who became a murderous, controlling man... with a penchant for seducing and exploiting trusting, vulnerable young women." Faith crisply summarizes Van Houten's descent from a promising middle-class young woman into a drug- and sex-crazed member of Manson's Family; her peripheral, panicked involvement in the murder of Rosemary LaBianca on the second night of Manson-ordered mayhem in August 1969 is also detailed. Faith notes that as Van Houten began to withdraw her loyalty to Manson, she became severely anorexic. In her narrative, Faith evokes the vanished world of hippie idealism that became twisted into Manson's poisonous ideology, and writes persuasively about collisions between gender, countercultural extremes and the criminal justice system. However, her reliance on psychological explanations of the Family's rituals and crimes, and her clear editorial eagerness to absolve the Manson women, may leave some readers unmoved by her argument that it is time for Van Houten to be paroled. (June 25)Forecast: Faith's book will appeal to readers of sociology, criminal justice and women's studies. Since it is a serious look at a former member of the Manson Family, the publisher is pitching NPR for radio coverage and has announced an aggressive first printing of 5,000 copies.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Leslie Van Houten was an accomplice in Charles Manson's murder rampage in August 1969. Saved from death by the temporary suspension of capital punishment, she remains incarcerated, having been repeatedly denied parole. In this account of Van Houten's 30 years in prison, Faith (criminology, Simon Fraser Univ.; Unruly Women: The Politics of Confinement and Resistance), who taught Van Houten at the California Institution for Women, argues that it is now time for her release. Faith describes Van Houten's personal growth, her remorse for the murders, and her emotional separation from Manson. She also gives readers a perceptive sketch of Manson, whose years in various institutions taught him how to manipulate others so that he could eventually control the minds of his followers. When it comes to Van Houten's early life, however, Faith does not appear to have as much information. True, Van Houten grew up in a time of cultural upheaval, but why was her quest for a father figure so desperate? Why was she so taken in by Manson that she could kill for him? After three decades in prison, Van Houten may be ready to return to society; it will be up to the California parole board to decide. Recommended for public and academic libraries. Frances Standiford, Green Haven Correctional Facility Lib., Stormville, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern (May 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555534813
• ISBN-13: 978-1555534813
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #486,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Crime and Punishment, May 31, 2001

By 

John Van Wagner (Upper Montclair, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Long Prison Journey of Leslie van Houten: Life Beyond the Cult (Northeastern Series on Gender, Crime, and Law) (Hardcover)

Writing a biography of a personal friend must be a very tricky business. Karlene Faith met famous Manson murderess Leslie Van Houten almost thirty years ago, and has proven an effective advocate for her eventual release. The relationship between the teacher and the reformed cult member is touching and very real, but it undermines this book as a chronicle of a criminal's transformation from delusional disciple to remorseful, decent soul.

Rather than focus on Van Houten's thoughts and feelings during her three decades behind bars, Faith uses the book as an apologia and rationalization for the prisoner's choices and behavior when a very young woman. The author seems to have only a vague realization of the monstrousness of the crimes committed, and lays the blame squarely on the mastermind, exonerating her subject and casting her as a victim in the same mold as those who lost their lives. Van Houten herself seems to have a clearer view of her own culpability, and it would have been interesting to hear more about this from her own mouth.

The book does cast a disturbing light on the inequity and gross politicization of the justice system. Van Houten's crimes, and her admitted participation in them, should allow for the imposition of a true life term, and so far the system seems intent on doing so. It's shocking to read, then, that all of the other prisoners on death row with Van Houten when the death penalty was suspended were released from prison within a few years. It seems that when no one is watching, the justice system plays by some very inept and unfair rules. Certainly Van Houten poses no further threat to society, while the prison system routinely ejects predators with murderous histories and no sign of reformation.

Though thick with pages full of psychobabble and research into cult psychology, there are enough anecdotes in the book to humanize the subject and make it an interesting read. Van Houten does come across as an obvious candidate for legitimate parole. But Karelene Faith's blind approach to this polarizing subject may be the last thing Van Houten needs.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Where's the responsibility?, June 1, 2007

By 

Veronique Chez Sheep (Santa Cruz California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Long Prison Journey of Leslie van Houten: Life Beyond the Cult (Northeastern Series on Gender, Crime, and Law) (Hardcover)

I was pretty disappointed in this book. Karlene Faith relies on an overabundance of clichés and a meager sprinkling of insight into the character of Leslie Van Houten and Van Houten's involvement in the Manson murders. Although published in 2001, the book reads as if it might have been written thirty years ago, at the beginning of the feminist movement. Leslie and her fellow murderesses are given every consideration: they were victims of "cultivated femininity", they "never lost their innocence", they were so brainwashed they relinquished all control and thought; however, Faith contradicts herself when excusing Leslie's involvement in the Manson Family as, "...Although part of his inner circle, Leslie was never part of Manson's inner, INNER circle. She would lapse into thinking for herself...". So in one fell swoop, the author denies Leslie's culpability and recognizes it.

In spite of that, one gets the feeling that Leslie herself has taken on more responsibility for her involvement than the author gives credit for. What Leslie seems to recognize, which the author does not, is that the Manson murders branded themselves on the American psyche, and society demands a price be paid. The author becomes downright offensive when she coyly alludes to other murders and murderers since then who have not received the notoriety of the Manson girls, suggesting perhaps that we are being a tad unfair in having the audacity to remember the shock and horror of the Tate-LaBianca deaths.

The author spends much time on Charles Manson and his responsibility as leader of the "cult." What she forgets is that members were free to come and go, and various people DID walk away from Manson and his personality. Faith also takes pains to mark how the Manson girls are exceptional in their good behavior in prison, apparently without noting the irony that they were exceptional members of Manson's inner circle, and before that Van Houten was an exceptional student and twice prom queen. It makes me wonder if these women's ability to get along in the unnatural atmosphere of prison is linked to their ability to have gotten along in the bizarre world of Manson's philosophy...and just how well they would be able to integrate themselves outside of the rigidly controlled environment of prison should any of them meet another guru.

In the end, this book gives more insight into the author's embrace of victim ideology, and quite a bit less into the mindset and maturity of a major participant in the crime of the century. I cannot imagine this book helped Leslie Van Houten's case for parole.

38 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Long Diatribe of Karlene Faith, August 23, 2003

By 

jude (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Long Prison Journey of Leslie van Houten: Life Beyond the Cult (Northeastern Series on Gender, Crime, and Law) (Hardcover)

Two themes not touched on in the book: justice and individual responsibility.
"The parole board has shown a clear unwillingness to move beyond the crimes (Van Houten stabbed Mrs. La Bianca 14 times--feeling like a 'shark with it prey')" of Ms. Van Houten is the typical, absurd refrain throughout the book. The author, Ms. Faith, wonders if Van Houten "had actually been involved in the murders at all." She asserts that Van Houten is a "friend" (at one point Ms. Faith brings banana splits to the "charming" convicted murderers.) She goes on to state that the Manson girls were "generous gift givers: 'I was the recipient of the complete collection of Charles Manson's song lyrics.'" According to this book, what happened to Leslie Van Houten "could have happened to any trusting young woman." I could go on, but you get the idea.
A further absurdity in the book is the author's typical refrain that the real causes of crime are "poverty, racism and low wages" while (unwittingly?) stressing the nurturing, supportive, middle class background of all the killers involved.