A Spectacular Inheritance (What I Kept and What I Left Behind)

A Spectacular Inheritance is a riveting account of one woman’s experience coming of age in the world of Moral Re-Armament (previously known as the Oxford Group), the evangelical conflict resolution organization that spawned both Alcoholics Anonymous and Up With People. Margaret Eastman Smith grew up entirely in the movement, worked for it until she was thirty-five, and later became a college professor of international peacemaking. Amid the vivid memories of the unusual life she shared with the community and her evolving view of it, she winds her own story of finding herself and values that she could rely on, even as she steps away.

The movement was a contributor to Franco-German reconciliation after World War II, but has also been excoriated by some, including actress Glenn Close in The Hollywood Reporter and Oprah Winfrey's documentary The Me You Can’t See. In Margaret’s telling, the book is a reflection on the search for self, on forgiveness and the meaning of love.