Stephanie is a struggling single mother in the North of England when she meets an intense yet charismatic man, Nathaniel. Pursued by him, she gradually falls under his spell and as their romance develops he persuades her to move, along with her daughter Judith, to a small religious community he has created on an isolated moor. Once there it is apparent that Nathaniel is in face a cult leader styling himself as The Prophet of The Ark. When his followers beginning to doubt Nathaniel and the ways of The Ark, tensions build and culminate in an intense act of violence that will tear the cult apart.
Eight years later Judith is visiting Stephanie (who is now in prison) and the story of how they joined and left The Ark is revealed in flashbacks between the visits.
I have hit a bit of a wall with reading. Ever since finishing A Little Life everything I have read has been sort of 'just okay' in comparison. The Followers has broken my stretch of 'just okay' and reminded me of how brilliant and powerful a well written book can be!
I, like most people, am interested in the dynamics of a cult and what draws people to them so the subject matter of this was intriguing from the outset but I loved absolutely everything about this book.
The sparse writing drew a vivid picture of The Ark and its members and there was a sense of foreboding and an air of tension throughout the story that made me reluctant to stop reading. The way the plot unfurled and the story was revealed was superbly executed. The characters and their vulnerability and isolation were all eminently believable, and the portrayal of family dynamics, especially the stilted Mother/Daughter relationship at the core of the book, were astoundingly well drawn.
The Followers is the best book I have read so far this year and I highly recommend it.
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