Martha Beck is a self-help author whose work has risen to bestseller status. Beck was raised in a Mormon family, with a father (Hugh Nibley) who was widely known as an apologist for Mormonism (the Church of Latter-Day Saints). Beck pursued higher education at Harvard University, where she earned a PhD in sociology. Beck served as a part-time professor at Brigham Young University until a controversy erupted about her public statements concerning Mormonism and a reported experience of sexual abuse by her father.

Beck ended up withdrawing from the Latter-Day Saints and detailed her experiences in a memoir titled Leaving the Saints. Her reports of sexual abuse remain controversial, partly because they are the product of memories recovered later in life, and mainstream psychological research remains divided on the reliability of recovered memories. After leaving Mormonism, Beck and her husband both came out as gay, mutually agreed to a divorce, and moved on to live with other partners.

Shortly after leaving Mormonism, Beck also moved on from her academic career, completing an ongoing transition toward popular writing, serving as a life coach, and doing speaking engagements. She has been active as a guest and writer in Oprah’s family of media companies, including as a longstanding contributor to O: The Oprah Magazine.