Zeeskite: i try very hard never to pull godwins on people because the argument is usually invalidated, but in this case i think its appropriate.
after world war 2 many jews renounced their judaism and cursed hashem for what happened to their families. many spent the next X years of their lives espousing their hatred for hashem and judaism and how it ruined their lives. would you dare judge them? would you dare write them off? would you dare presume to claim that you have any authority in the matter? i sincerely hope not.
al tadin is fine when someone YOU know is involved, but not good enough when its someone you dont know? suppose she was your sister and you lived her life but turned out differently, would you judge her? i doubt it. youd believe that shes wrong, but would you be such a kanai “l’shem shamayim.”
but she IS your sister. shes a jew who suffered. she is no different than family.
if she had randomly published a book, for no reason at all, just published a book openly bashing and criticizing satmar after having a perfect life then i agree, she would be completely wrong, and would deserve all the flack shes getting over this. but she didnt have a perfect life–not even close–and therefore yes, she DOES deserve special consideration.
also consider this. suppose she had come over to you with her story a year ago, before it was published, dressed as she appears in that picture, munching on a crabcake; what would your response have been to her? is your problem that she published or is your problem that she feels the way she does? if your problem is that she published then you understand why she feels like she does, you just believe that its unfortunate. and the fact that she published makes her no less unfortunate.
this thread has gotten a bit off point so let me address the title directly. what effect does this memoir have on us? what effect should it have would be a better question. seeing a book like this and reacting with anger is the wrong response. what you should feel when you see a book like this happen is feel sadness. you should feel that the fact that such a book could happen is a tragedy. because behind the book is a person who suffered, and if we could have done something before it turned into the book and didnt…thats tragic.