Simultaneously alluring and horrifying, I find cults fascinating, so when I saw what Home was about, I knew it was a book I had to read. Home follows Simultaneously alluring and horrifying, I find cults fascinating, so when I saw what Home was about, I knew it was a book I had to read. Home follows Zoe, a survivor of “the Children” a secretive, fundamentalist cult headed by the reclusive guru ‘father’. Her new life in Dublin is disrupted when a person from her past offers her the opportunity to rescue her sister Amy. This is an accomplished and confident debut from Cailean Steed. It’s a thought-provoking exploration of power, cult mentality and identity all wrapped up in nail-biting narrative. Home reminds me of The Handmaid’s Tale in some respects, but personally I think it’s faster paced and more plot driven.
Told across two timelines then and now, the reader gets a contrasting picture of Zoe’s life inside and after the cult. Home should be a haven, but not for Zoe. It’s a place where systematic abuse, isolation and control, fear and coercion, and enslavement are the norm. Steed’s powerful and visceral descriptions of the cult are heartbreakingly believable, but absolutely necessary to show how manipulative techniques of persuasion and control are designed to break a person. When Zoe returns to “home” the book takes on a far more sinister turn as she faces the abuse and indoctrination she fought so desperately to overcome. These chapters are the ones where a sense of malevolence and tension grows at every turn of the page.
Zoe isn’t the most reliable narrator as she experiences periods of intense and often conflicting emotions. It was fascinating but horrifying to see how a person can lose their sense of identity when faced with a constant barrage of rigid rules, rituals, and abuse. There are characters you will come to hate, but others whose friendship and kind nature give the reader hope that Zoe can have a fruitful life outside the cult. I really enjoyed this book. Admittedly, the subject can make for an uncomfortable read but it feels authentic. With a menacing plot and well-developed characters, Home is an unforgettable story about family, identity and the horrifying dynamics of a cult. Highly recommend.
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