About the book
A childhood inside a cult and the long way out
“In the beginning there was only darkness. Slowly my eyes were opened.”
Now I Can Get My New Tattoo is the true story of a boy born in Melbourne in 1969 to parents who answered to someone else. The sect led by Anne Hamilton-Byrne, known in Australia as The Family, shaped every adult around him. Its leader called herself his godmother.
His mother left when he was four. He grew up between two fathers and two countries, raising his little brother while still a child himself. When he saw what was happening to that brother at the cult house in Eildon, he spoke up. Years later, a police task force came knocking on his own door.
From Valium at twelve to heroin as a young man, Anthony calls it what it was: self-medication. The book follows the raids, the failed detox, the friends who did not make it, and the day he decided it was time for a major change.
Told head on and without excuses, it is a story of survival, and of the stubborn belief that recovery is possible.
Contents
Inside the book
Table of contents
Recovery as a rebirth into reality, and why healing has to come from within.
Two fathers, a mother who leaves, and a household that takes its orders from the cult.
A boy made into a parent starts to question his own programming.
Valium at twelve, and adults who looked the other way.
Israel, the cult house at Eildon, running away, and the raid by Operation Forest.
Heroin, a detox that fails, friends lost, and the decision to change.
Who it is for
A book for anyone finding their way out
Survivors
Of cults, of abuse, of childhoods that asked too much too soon.
People in recovery
And the families who love them, and keep hoping.
The curious
Readers who want the truth about The Family, from someone who grew up around it.
The questioners
Anyone asking where their own beliefs and habits really came from.
This book speaks openly about addiction, abuse and suicide. If any of it is close to home, please talk to someone. In Australia, Lifeline is available 24 hours on 13 11 14.
Available now
Get your copy today
A true story that will stay with you long after the last page.