Nansook Hong - In The Shadow of The Moons

In The Shadow of The Moons

In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family is a 1998, non-fiction work by Hong and Boston Globe reporter Eileen McNamara, published by Little, Brown and Company (then owned by Time Warner). It has also been published in German, in 1998, and in French, in 2000. It is cited by at least six other books relating to cults and new religious movements.

It is dedicated: "For my children". According to an article in the New York Post, Hong stated that "she contracted a sexually transmitted disease from her husband Hyo Jin Moon and was "a toy for his sexual pleasure or an outlet for his violent rages." In her review of the book for Cultic Studies Journal, Marcia Rudin, writing in the Cultic Studies Journal, said that due to Nansook Hong's position within the Moon family, her story cannot simply be dismissed by cult apologists as an atrocity tale. She added: "The compelling credibility of this book demands that Nansook's story be paid attention to. Many Unification Church members are paying it attention, for, according to Nansook and others, the first-hand testimony delivered through this book has already caused many Unification Church members to leave the group." Rafael Martinez, the director of Spiritwatch Ministries writes that the book is a "...painfully honest and personal reflection of her life as a bride to Hyo Jin, Moon's eldest son..."

Hong talked about her experiences in an interview with Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes, in September 1998. In May 1999, Hong presented a talk on her book at a conference sponsored by the International Cultic Studies Association, entitled Cults, Psychological Manipulation & Society.