Captive: A Mother’s Crusade to Save Her Daughter from a Terrifying Cult

Oxenberg describes herself as a lifelong seeker, someone who has always wanted to get to the heart of who she is and how and why she behaves as she does. This has led her on spiritual retreats and seminars, down self-help rabbit holes, and at one point it led her and her daughter India to a conference on entrepreneurship for young women. India was starting her own business at 19, and Catherine had heard wonderful things about NXIVM, so they attended the conference together. That singular experience led to years of involvement with the group that eventually turned Catherine off. But India was drawn in to a web of deceit and brainwashing that changed her and scared her mother.

Captive is thrilling in its step-by-step retelling of Oxenberg’s attempt to remove her daughter from the cult. She is honest and unflinching in acknowledging her own role in India’s initial involvement with NXIVM, and she pulls no punches while taking down the group’s deceptive and toady leader Keith Raniere. This book is a revelation of mother’s love and is worth reading and discussing, especially for parents of young adults who may not realize how vulnerable children are to this kind of evil.