Martha Nibley Beck (born November 29, 1962) is an American author, life coach, speaker, and sociologist.
She received national attention after publication in 2005 of her best-seller, Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith in which she recounts her experiences of surviving sexual abuse.
She has published academic books and articles on a variety of social science and business topics.
[4] In 1990, soon after the birth of her third child, Beck, as a part-time faculty member at BYU in Provo, Utah, taught a course on the sociology of gender in the Department of Social Science.
Since leaving the LDS Church, both Martha Beck and her now ex-husband subsequently came out publicly as gay.
[6] Beck's 2005 book Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith was controversial for accusations that she was sexually abused by her father, scholar and LDS Church apologist Hugh Nibley, as well as stating she recovered memories of the abuse.
A New York Times article sums up with "Church members are also angry that Beck jokes about aspects of the Mormon faith; for example, she refers to the religious garments that Mormons wear in their temples as "holy long johns."