Customer Reviews

Slavery of Faith: The untold story of the Peoples Temple from the eyes of a thirteen year old, her escape from Jonestown at 20 and life 30 years later.

5 star:		(6)
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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This author did one thing that none of the other authors about Jonestown did in their books and for this alone, she deserves five stars. She lists the nine hundred plus victims of the Jonestown event in the back of the book. Other books have just given us a number and she has given us their names, birthdates, and places of birth and former residence before Jonestown.
Apart from that, the book is interesting to read because the author was so young and lost her brother, sister, and nieces and nephews. There is the guilt that she feels for surviving and the long way back home to peace, love and understanding of herself. She went to Guyana to get her son who was only 2 years old at the time. Her husband, Joe Wilson, was one of the devoted followers of Jones and it made it very difficult for Leslie to pull herself away.
She wanted to escape and recounts her first attempt when she was in Georgetown to get glasses even though she stashed a pair in the bottom of her suitcase. She and the others in Jonestown lived in a world of fear, paranoia, hunger, hard labor, and terror by the man who led them there. I was surprised that she listed his name with all the other victims. For Leslie, this book helps paint another portrait of the Jonestown life and the tragic events of November 18, 1978.
If you are interested in reading about Jonestown, the People's Temple, and Jim Jones, this book should also be included on your reading list. While Leslie was not as close to Jones, she shows another side of those there with no way out really.
Her escape with her son on November 18, 1978 was brave and guilt-ridden for leaving her family behind to face the certain death. This book is decently written but for the first time in print, I see the names of 900 men, women, and children who once lived in Jonestown.

Ms. Leslie is a personal friend of mine so I have been blessed and honored to hear her tell this story to me on a personal level. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I would recommend this book to everyone to learn about our history and the struggle of these people that experienced this horrific event.

My review is written without informing you of actual events in the book because I want you to read it for yourself. Leslie was unselfish in writing about her life's experiences. She brought you into her world through her words. She kept you interested chapter after chapter. As I read the book and learned more about the reason so many people went to Jonestown it was truly an eye opener. She made the people real again. She not only wrote about her experiences but also her survival and how it affected her and her son. She told you what actually happened and what she was thinking when it happened. She spoke for those who are now silent but had a story that needed to be told honestly. She listed everyone's name in the back of her book which I thought was a wonderful tribute to them. She is a true testimony that "whatever" you may be "growing" through "hang" in there and keep the "Faith" because God "WILL" pull you through. Be a "slave to faith". Don't EVER give up on it. Faith is certain if you just BELIEVE. Read the book yourself and see just what I mean.

Wow. I am in my mid 20's and have heard of Jonestown here and there but never actually knew the story of what happened in depth. All I can say is wow. It is amazing to me that this tragedy has had so little light shown on it and the stories of those lost and those who survuved have been muffled. The author's story felt so...real. It was heartfelt. Nothing felt trumped up for dramatic purposes. It was if someone was telling you their life story, the good and the bad, nothing hidden or watered down. It was a story we can all relate to. It is so hard to find a real life story. All I have to say is...when is the movie coming out???

Leslie takes you into her world with this eye opening passage through a young persons eyes. The trials and tribulations of coming of age and trying to hold true to who you are,can be challenge enough in life. But the added degree of living; loving; learning and SURVIVING through Jonestown has definately been brought to life in this book.

This riveting story is a testimoney that whatever we go through if our "FAITH" is there it does not go unnoticted by any means. God wrapped his arms around Leslie, her son and the others that day.

Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld (Hebrews 11:1)

Journey with her through this wonderful read, I'm sure you would come out diffrent when you think of "Faith"......Enjoy

While I enjoyed this book and appreciated an insiders account of the events in Jonestown, I couldn't help but be disappointed in the lack of depth the author went into. This book just skims the surface and is very safe. I would have liked more details involving her work in the medical clinic at Jonestown, her experiences with Jim Jones inner circle, the trip to Jonestown, the plan to escape, way more details about Congressman Ryan's visit. And definately more details about the aftermath. Especially disappointing is her unwillingness to go into detail about the interrogations by the FBI etc... She mentions the CIA in passing a few times but does not elaborate.

For those interested in the truth (how and why Jonestown went down the way it did) this book does not satisfy - but the book is worth reading if not for the dream recounted in the prologue. This I found to be quite compelling.

I too also found many inconsistencies in the book and must say that it would have benefited from a better editor. However it is a easy read because it is an interesting story - and would have been even better with more details. I cannot imagine how hard it must have been to come out of this whole thing alive with several members of your family gone forever but one thing I have always found shocking is the unwillingness on behalf of many of the survivors to confront the government about the disposition of their loved ones remains. Again this is not mentioned in the book. All we are told is that she eventually started receiving a social security check for her deceased husband at some point. If she did inquire about her family's remains and what exactly happened to them she does not elaborate. Furthermore I found it disappointing that she does not share with us her thoughts on the infamous film clip of the gunsman who shot down congressman Ryan (and others on the airstrip in Port Kaituma) since her husband was alleged to be one of them (which she mentions but again does not elaborate on).

I am not judging Ms. Wilson, truly I have nothing but respect for her and what she went through, but I find it hard to believe there isn't more to her story. Anyone who worked in the medical clinic in Jonestown and whose husband was an integral part of Jim Jones security force had more knowledge about what was going on. I anticipated that this would lead up to why she was able to escape while many others did not. But again she does not provide details. Everything just happens. Maybe she doesn't have anything more to say. I got the feeling that she wrote this book as a form of therapy which is interesting and definately warrants compassion but left me a little disappointed. I was expecting to get more insight from this book.

Leslie is an amazing person, a strong survivor of a terrible event and time. In this book, she has shared intimate details of what it was like and what she learned. We need to read, understand well, and acknowledge that these kind of events can still happen and are in the USA. I appreciate the hard road Ms. Wagner-Wilson has had and bless her as she continues into a more lovely future.

This book is a pretty good read; I read it in one day. The author does stress the importance of faith and illustrates how her faith helped her to overcome the guilt that she felt as a survivor of Jonestown. However, I think that maybe she is still struggling with that guilt, and as a result there are various inconsistencies in the stores. Or maybe she is just embellishing some of the stories. For example, in the first chapters she talks about how her request to join the tennis team was denied by the Church, because doing so would take her talent and time away from the cause. But later, once in Jonestown, she states that Jim Jones' wife tells her to work in the fields an additional two days a week so that a lighter complected woman will not burn....and she mentions that this light woman was a tennis team mate with her in high school. In another section she says her sister came to Jonestown to escape the beatings of her husband (which, her husband was already in Jonestown with their daughter, Dawynelle). Then, she later labels the same man as her sister's boyfriend. Toward the end she says she worked at the Omega Phi Psi house, but the fraternity is actually Omega Psi Phi. And after that she says she broke her ankle at first but then says she broke her leg. Which one is it?! These inconsistencies made me somewhat doubt the accuracy of the rest of the events.

Unlike the reviewers before me, I do not find it touching that the author listed 918 victims and included Jim Jones name amongst the murdered. After having visited the Holocaust Museum and witnessing the moving experience of seeing the dead honored minus the desecration of having their killer's name listed on a memorial wall. Furthermore, 923 people died that day. Apparently, the author has chosen to disregard the five people slaughtered on the airstrip.

In closing, this Black dog with my White paw, believes the author is doubtless a member of a White Supremacist Organization or at best received assistance from one of their members. Two paws way down!!!