| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 홍난숙 |
| Hanja | 洪蘭淑 |
| Revised Romanization | Hong Nan-suk |
| McCune–Reischauer | Hong Nansuk |
Nansook Hong (born 1966), is the former wife of Hyo Jin Moon, first son of Unification Church founder and leader Sun Myung Moon and his wife Hakja Han Moon. They divorced in 1995.[1] In 1998 her autobiography (co-authored with Eileen McNamara), In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family, was published.
Contents |
Nansook Hong was chosen by Sun Myung Moon to be the wife of his eldest son, Hyo Jin Moon. According to Hong, Hyo Jin abused drugs and was unfaithful to her. His drug lapses were blamed on Hong. Bringing her children with her, Hong left the Unification Church and Hyo Jin, and recounts her experiences in In the Shadow of the Moons.[2]
Hong recounted some of the material described in her book, in an interview by Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes, in September 1998.[3] In October 1998, Hong participated in an online interview hosted by TIME Magazine, in which she stated: "Rev. Moon has been proclaiming that he has established his ideal family, and fulfilled his mission, and when I pinpointed that his family is just as dysfunctional as any other family - or more than most - then I think his theology falls apart."[4]
In May 1999, Hong presented a talk on her book at the International Cultic Studies Association Conference: Cults, Psychological Manipulation & Society.[5]
| In the Shadow of the Moons | |
|---|---|
Book cover, Hardcover ed. |
|
| Author(s) | Nansook Hong |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Subject(s) | religion |
| Genre(s) | non-fiction |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
| Publication date | September 2, 1998 |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 240 |
| ISBN | 0316348163 |
| OCLC Number | 39736042 |
In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family is a 1998, non-fiction work by Hong, published by Little, Brown and Company. The book is cited by at least six other books relating to cults and new religious movements.[6] Peter Maass, writing in the New Yorker Magazine, called what is revealed in the book Sun Myung Moon's "most damaging scandal", and categorized the book as a "tell-all memoir".[7]
The book has also been published in German, in 1998,[8] and in French, in 2000.[9]
The book 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."[10] In her review of the book for Cultic Studies Journal, Marcia Rudin wrote that due to Nansook Hong's position within the Moon family, her story cannot simply be dismissed by cult apologists as an atrocity tale. Rudin went on to state that: "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."[11] 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..."[12]