The Man of My House

In her raw and inspiring memoir, one of the breakout stars of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reveals, for the first time, her story of surviving abuse in her childhood home—and the strength she found to build a life that never felt possible.

In her wildest dreams, Layla Taylor didn’t see herself on a hit reality show, with millions eager to hear what she had to say. In fact, her plan was to be a dental assistant, a job that offered benefits and stability to her and her two young boys, that would serve as the antithesis to her childhood upbringing.

Her earliest memory involved the cops, her parents screaming inside the home, as she and her older sister cowered in the bushes outside. Her parents’ tumultuous relationship didn’t get better as she grew older, as amid their divorce her father’s anger grew and Layla became a target. Determined to find a place where she was accepted just as she was, she threw herself into dance and cheerleading. In a world of blue-eyed, blonde, white, and skinny cheerleaders, Layla’s own insecurities fed into an eating disorder, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. Mormonism felt like the way “out,” and after secretly converting in high school before moving to Salt Lake City, Layla found that the confidence she was yearning to find didn’t come from a man, or a religion, or having the perfect body.

A narrative about a young woman yearning for the peace she could never find as a child, The Man of My House is a life-affirming tale of Layla learning to take up space and deciding to live authentically, no matter what others might think or say.