Born and Razed

Surviving the Cult Was Only Half the Battle

By: Beth Granger

Narrated by: Beth Granger

What happens when religion and power collide in the wrong hands? At Grenville Christian College, once one of Canada’s most prestigious private religious schools, the result was thousands of broken lives.

Born and Razed recounts the author's gripping and deeply personal journey. Beth's life began at Grenville, where her parents were teachers. The picturesque campus on the banks of the St. Lawrence River masked a dark reality: behind its idyllic facade lay a world of strict control, religious zealotry, and emotional abuse.

Beth was the first baby born at Grenville, but her childhood was far from blessed. When the Mothers, founders of the Benedictine-inspired Community of Jesus in Cape Cod, brought their rigid and punitive vision to the school, life took a devastating turn. For Beth, “repentance” came with public humiliation, relentless criticism, and separation from her family. By age five, she was living apart from her parents, accused of gluttony, and placed on restrictive diets—laying the foundation for a lifelong battle with eating disorders, low self-esteem, and mental health struggles.

Throughout her adolescence, Beth endured emotional torment under the guise of religious instruction. Attempts to seek help were met with harsh judgment, not compassion. Like her family, she was tightly bound by cult-like indoctrination, isolated, and forced to endure the unendurable.

Yet, even in the face of such profound trauma, Beth found the strength to fight back. Her path to freedom began with an act of quiet rebellion—admitting the truth about the institution she had been conditioned to revere. That truth set her on a journey of healing, activism, and justice.

©2025 Beth Granger (P)2025 Beth Granger

Heartbroken and cheering on mending.

What a story! A true story of unbelievable proportions. I just want to wind the clock back and for this to have never happened to so many students and kids. I just couldn’t get over the impossibility of enduring this hidden abuse, yet so many people have lived journey on. I cried many times throughout this book for the students who lost so much and couldn’t even make sense of the loss at the time.

Thank you Brave and Beautiful Beth!

I want to tell everyone from GCC and the Community of Jesus to read this book!!Beth tells the truth. We need to hear it and face the truth. This book is powerful, absolutely well written I could hardly put it down. I recommend listening to it. I don’t know when I’ll stop crying. Thank you, Beth! Thank you so very much.

Bravely written

Beth Granger's account of her experience of systematic abuse at the hands of the leaders, staff and fellow students is honest, raw and incredibly sad. She writes in a way that allows the reader to "feel" the harsh punishments she endured and the life long physical and emotional effects they caused her. She is amazingly open about how deeply the experience affected her. She also provides insight into how such a place can exist and continue to terrorize students for decades without being held accountable.

Her childhood was so hard.

I loved her honesty and clarity. She was so brave and her story telling amazing. I’m so glad I read this book.

Beth brings her narrative to life

I read this book a few months ago when it first came out. Only recently when the audiobook came out, I decided to purchase it as well.

I can’t overstate how moved I have been by her narration of her own story. Many times I had to stop the book, and just sit with something she had said. Or cry for the pain that she had been through.

So many of us went through the same hell at Grenville or the community of Jesus. As a group of staff kids at either commune- we speak out against the atrocities that were committed, and are still being committed to this day in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The harm that was done to small children and growing teenagers and young adults, all in the name of God, is a narrative so alarming and compelling that I will do all I can to expose the insidiousness of these high control groups that are still very much alive and well in our world today.

I highly recommend you listen to this book with an open heart.
Thank you Beth for your bravery. We stand with you.

Compelling Story of growing up in a high control group masquerading as a religious school.

Read by the author. I listened to it all in 1 day! Compelling story, thoughtfully told.