Autographed hardback edition of "SNAKE OIL, The Art of Healing and Truth-Telling" by Becca Stevens.

"In the world of snake oils, you have to see the world a little differently. Where others see poverty, you see riches; where others see weeds, you see flowers; where others see sickness, you see openness.”

- Becca Stevens, from "Snake Oils: The Art of Healing and Truth-Telling"

Book Summary: 

Becca Stevens calls herself a snake oil seller. She takes natural oils, mixes them with a good story, sells them in an open market and believes they help heal the world. Becca is the founder of Thistle Farms, one of the most successful social enterprises in the US whose mission is the work force, and its two-year residential program, Magdalene. The women of Magdalene/Thistle Farms have survived prostitution, trafficking and addiction and the natural body care products they manufacture–balms, soaps, and lotions–aid in their own healing as well as offer it to those who buy them.

The book weaves together the beginnings of the enterprise with individual stories from Becca's own journey as well as 20 women in the community. In Snake Oil, Becca tells how the women she began helping fifteen years ago have been the biggest source of her own healing from sexual abuse and her father’s death as a child. Wise and reflective, Snake Oil offers an empowering narrative as well as a selection of recipes for healing remedies that readers can make themselves.

Becca and her organization were highlighted by CNN as groups helping women survive in the world and make better lives for themselves and their families.