Shari Franke Speaks Out on Surviving Utah YouTube Mom's Abuse: 'I Don't Want It to Consume My Life'

Mar. 15, 2025

Shari Franke.Photo:MANICPROJECT

MANICPROJECT

Shari Frankeis moving forward with her life.

Prior toannouncing her engagementon Dec. 28, Shari, 21, spoke with PEOPLE in an interview for this week’s print issue about how she survived her traumatic childhood. Her memoir,The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedomcomes out from Gallery Books on Jan. 7.

For more on Shari Franke, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.

According to Shari, her mother’s abuse began before she connected with Hildebrandt and extends as far back to her days as a family blogger under the name of “8Passengers.”

Justin Hackworth Photography

She describes her mother as “very authoritative,” telling PEOPLE, “She’d always say that she wanted to be a good mom. That was what she always told us, and I think that she wanted to force her kids to also think that she was a good mom. She couldn’t handle anybody disagreeing with her.”

Shari went on to describe how she became more and more disillusioned with filming every aspect of her life during her teen years.

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“Looking back, I could see how all of my embarrassing moments as a teenager, I was coerced to post those,” she continues. “And that wasn’t me actually understanding the full consequences that that would have.”

A Franke family portrait with the children’s faces blurred to protect their privacy.

Shari adds, “My biggest priority was just making sure that the kids were alive. As long as they were alive, obviously then I knew eventually things would be okay.” Today, she doesn’t talk about her siblings or their lives now to protect their privacy.

“Part of me feels guilty if I don’t forgive,” she continues. “But I’ve come to realize that forgiveness for me just means that I don’t let her actions consume my thoughts.”

“I’m still angry about what she did, of course, and that’s never going to go away, but I am living my life and I am not letting her take any more of that from me than she’s already taken.”

The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedomcomes out Jan. 7 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.

source: people.com