Holy Ghost Girl: A Memoir
Holy Ghost Girl is Donna Johnson's memoir of a childhood and adolescence spent under the tent — and under the influence — of the charismatic revivalist preacher David Terrell. She was just three years old when her mother signed on as Brother Terrell's organist, taking her children on the road. For years, Donna and her younger brother moved from place to place, falling under the spell of fiery sermons and witnessing miraculous healings. But when long-hidden secrets and hypocrisies started to see the light of day, she began seriously questioning her faith in Brother Terrell's holy word.
Quote:
"That November evening as my husband and I stood, mouths agape, in the white-tiled kitchen of our urban home, I felt the past rise up and move toward me like some long-slumbering, pitifully deformed creature. It smelled of pine shavings and kerosene. Its rough, dense texture moved in and out of memory like a tent flap blowing in the breeze."
Author:
Donna Johnson is a technology writer, radio producer, and memoirist. She lives in Austin, Texas.
Published: 2011
Length: 288 pages
Main Setting: Texas, United States
Secondary Settings: Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and West Virginia, United States