Audiobook Review: The Lafferty Girl: Surviving Trauma, Abuse, and My Father’s Crimes by Rebecca Lafferty

The Lafferty Girl: Surviving Trauma, Abuse, and My Father’s Crimes by Rebecca Lafferty
Narrator: Ivory Tiffin
Publisher: Union Square & Company
Release Date: September 30, 2025
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

Rebecca Lafferty grew up with a volatile, erratic, and ultimately notorious father, Dan Lafferty. She carried the scars of her traumatic upbringing through childhood and into adulthood. But most of all, Rebecca carried the horror of learning about the cold-blooded murder of her aunt and infant cousin in 1984, perpetrated by Dan and Ron according to a revelation Ron had received—as profiled in the Jon Krakauer book and FX/Hulu series Under the Banner of Heaven.

Now, in this riveting memoir, Rebecca tells her own story of survival and healing. Her correspondence with Dan—serving life in prison—insights from relatives, and most importantly, her own lived experience, give her an astoundingly deep point of view on the lead-up to the tragedy and its aftermath.

In this book, Rebecca hopes to encourage other survivors of abuse and trauma to chart their own path to healing and peace.

Rebecca Lafferty is the daughter of Dan Lafferty who murdered her aunt and baby cousin because God told him to. Dan’s story is the focus of John Krakauer’s book Under the Banner of Heaven. You don’t have to have read that book to understand this book. It is a really good book though so you should read it just for the sake of it.

Rebecca grew up in a strict Fundamentalist Mormon household. Her father, Dan, is clearly mentally ill and twisted Mormon doctrine to suit his needs. He was abusive and irrational. Her mother immigrated from Scotland and felt trapped in her situation. She stayed with him right up until he committed the murders.

The first part of Rebecca’s book is about her childhood. She is still in contact with her father and visits him in prison. Because of this, she was able to offer his perspective on her childhood. He is still not well and doesn’t seem to have remorse for what he did. He still feels like God was calling him to commit his crimes.

The second part of the book is about Rebecca’s life after her father went to prison. It’s been a journey to overcome the guilt and shame she feels because of what her father did. Because of that, she has made some poor choices throughout her life. She’s had a few bad relationships and has three children with different fathers. She sought healing from both traditional non-traditional methods, including hypnotherapy. She’s now a certified hypnotherapist.

I liked this book, but I was hoping for more on Rebecca’s childhood. That’s the main reason I picked this book because I love reading about cults and Dan Lafferty was a cult of two – him and his brother. A lot of Rebecca’s healing journey focused on “woo-woo” methods of healing and as a pragmatic person, that didn’t interest me.

If you’re interested in a more in depth look at Dan Lafferty’s crimes as well as the history of Mormon fundamentalism, I recommend reading Under the Banner of Heaven instead of this book. But if you’re looking to read a book about a woman’s journey to heal her childhood trauma that focuses more on her present than her past, then this is the book for you.

(I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook for review.)