The True Happiness Company: A Memoir

How could an intelligent woman, with robust family support, be sucked into a cult? Dinavahi explores that question in her poignant debut, which traces her path from a comfortable Maryland upbringing through multiple suicide attempts, her time under the spell of an abusive charlatan, and her eventual escape from his control. After a high school classmate died by suicide in 2007, Dinavahi became obsessed with the tragedy, and soon tried to take her own life. That led her desperate mother to scour the internet for help, landing on True Happiness Company founder Bob Lyon, who claimed he could reinvigorate Dinavahi’s love of life (later, Dinavahi would find out Lyon was a former eye surgeon with no training in psychology). When Dinavahi and her parents visited Lyon in his Georgia home, his calmness impressed Dinavahi, kicking off her eight years “in his orbit.” Though Lyon’s treatments could be disturbing—he insisted a 19-year-old Dinavahi call him “Daddy” and allow him to cradle her like an infant—she pushed down her misgivings. Her apprehension grew after she learned that Lyon was a proselytizing Mormon, and an episode in which Lyon asked her to remove her clothes so he could touch her finally broke the spell, moving her to cut ties with him and enroll in a college psychology program. Dinavahi’s conversational tone and clear-eyed sense of her own vulnerability make for a powerful self-portrait. It’s equal parts fascinating and edifying. Agent: Maria Stovall, Trellis Literary. (May)