Perfectly Clear: Escaping Scientology and Fighting for the Woman I Love

by Michelle LeClair, Robin Gaby Fisher Narrated by Michelle LeClair

Overview

The revelatory memoir by former "poster girl for Scientology" Michelle LeClair about her defection from the Church, her newly accepted sexual identity, and the lengths to which Scientology went to silence it.

For years, Michelle LeClair, former President of Scientology's international humanitarian organization, tried to reconcile her sexual orientation with the anti-gay ideology of the church. Michelle finally ends her horrific marriage, finds the love of her life, a woman, and ultimately leaves the Church. But the split comes at a terrible price. Her once pristine reputation is publicly dragged through the mud, the police raid her home, her ex-husband tries to gain full custody of their children, and the multi-million dollar business she built from scratch is utterly destroyed.

In this tell-all memoir, Michelle offers an insider's perspective on Scientology's pervasive influence, secret rituals, and ruthless practices for keeping members in line. It's a story of self-acceptance, of finding the strength and courage to stand up for your emotional freedom, and of love prevailing.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for Perfectly Clear

"LeClair’s straight forward, compulsively readable account of all this is fascinating, as it takes readers into the oft-shrouded world of Scientology, its controlling techniques, its obsession with money, and more."—Booklist

Kirkus Reviews

2018-10-22

A high-profile former Scientology member tells the story of how she came to terms with her homosexuality and found the courage to leave the organization.

Oklahoma native LeClair first came into contact with Scientology after her mother took a consulting job with a management firm that encouraged her to take Scientology "self-improvement courses." Soon she was encouraging her 17-year-old daughter to forgo her plans for college and work full-time at her company. Pressured from the start to join Scientology, the author finally began sessions with a Scientologist minister after a traumatic car crash. She then underwent "Security Checks" to determine her fitness for Scientology membership, during which she obliquely admitted to having experienced same-sex attraction. To move out of what Scientologists called "Lower Conditions" that would impede her spiritual progress, LeClair was tasked with finding a boyfriend. So she married a man she helped convert to Scientology three years later. The author struggled in private with both her sexuality and an abusive marriage, but she thrived professionally, "making money hand over fist" in the insurance industry while serving as volunteer president of the church's Youth for Human Rights organization. Though she was a poster child for Scientology, her relationship to the church soured when she tried to divorce her husband. A generous donor, it was only after LeClair had spent large sums on useless "auditing"—the church equivalent of therapy—and threatened to withhold future funds that she was able to divorce. Then she fell in love with another woman and became the target of a Scientology "Black Propaganda campaign" designed to ruin her and her business. An unrepentant LeClair left Scientology in 2011, but her nightmarish battle, which included protracted legal wrangling over accusations of fraud, would not be over for years. As courageous as it is honest, the author's tell-all book offers disturbing insights into the inner workings of a church that is as controversial as ever.

A gripping narrative perfect for those seeking more information after reading Lawrence Wright's Going Clear.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172082016
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	09/11/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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