Family The

Product Description

Melbourne's apocalyptic cult The Family and their guru, Anne Hamilton-Byrne : one of very few female cult leaders : captured international headlines throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1987, police dramatically rescued the cult's abused children, all with bleached blonde hair, from a lakeside property near Melbourne. They were to be part of Hamilton-Byrne's future master race : there were 28 children in total. Her followers unquestioningly believed she was 'the one true master.' The survivors have suffered ever since, while Hamilton-Byrne lives with dementia in a nursing home, with only one minor criminal charge to her name, but an estate worth many millions. How did this happen? What were the circumstances and the contexts that made such atrocities possible? Who profited and who suffered? Who tried to stop it? Why did Hamilton-Byrne's supporters believe she was Jesus Christ reincarnated in the female form? What became of the children after they were finally rescued? With new material now come to light, including the lead detective's complete files and diaries from the original 1980s investigation, Chris Johnston, one of Australia's leading journa