The Search for Bridey Murphy Book

When this book was first published, it caused somewhat of a sensation, especially in the Bible Belt where I grew up. A psychiatrist got interested in hypnosis in 1952, and tried it on his neighbor's wife. While trying to regress the woman to her early childhood, he ended up in what must have been one of the first past life regressions, where the woman remembered several past lives, including her life as Bridey Murphy, an Irishwoman in the 1800s. Many of the details of her/Murphy's life were able to be documented, and the book is largely composed of tapes from the hypnosis sessions.

I remember this book vividly, because it was the first forbidden book I ever read. My parents read it, and tried not to talk about it when I was around. I can still see them whispering in the kitchen. My mother took the book and placed it on a high shelf. After awhile, my parents forgot about it, and I was able to retrieve it. I read it under the covers at night with my trusty flashlight. I was eight years old, and my other reading materials at the time were about Beezus and Ramona.

If I had the chance to read this book again, I would do it.