Lost to a CULT
A YOUNG BACKPACKER FINDS PARADISE IN AOTEAROA, OR HAS SHE?
Hawke’s Bay writer Charity Norman has carved out a niche writing internationally successful novels that focus on family dramas. Her latest one falls very much into “every parent’s worst nightmare” territory.
Cassy is a beautiful English law student who is heading off for a dream holiday travelling round New Zealand with her boyfriend. When her parents wave her off at the airport, they have no inkling that it will be years before they see her again.
Not long into the trip,
Cassy breaks up with her boyfriend and falls in with a cult. At first, the people of Gethsemane appear to lead an idyllic existence. They live in a rural paradise beside
Lake Tarawera, where they grow their own vegetables and enjoy a warm community spirit. Their contentment and friendliness appeals to Cassy and soon the idealistic young woman has agreed to join them. But everything is not as it seems.
The cult’s leader Justin is powerfully charismatic but he is also in the grip of mental illness and has religious delusions. He tells his followers that the world is about to end and only he is their saviour. And he controls them by not allowing any negative thought or dissension.
Meanwhile, at home in England, Cassy’s family is frantic with worry and gradually her absence begins tearing them apart.
This is one of those novels that is so convincing, you feel as if you’re living through events along with the characters – in particular Cassy and her mother Diana who narrate the story.
Charity has obviously done loads of research into the tricks used by cults to manipulate people into becoming compliant, to giving away all their money and severing contact with their loved ones.
It’s all very scary. In fact, I’m not sure I’d want to read this book if I had a child Cassy’s age that was about to head off on an OE as it demonstrates just how seductive these organisations are and how easily disaster can strike.
A genuinely riveting read that will appeal to fans of Jodi Picoult.