Cult Following: My Life in the Shadow of the Children of God

'Cult Following' was of interest to me as I was also raised in a cult, experienced major difficulties when leaving and during the subsequent years, and have been writing about the mess. At the time of purchase I was about 35,000 words into my first draft.Although I enjoyed many aspects of the writing style in Cult following, particularly the level of detail and the way the writing invoked the senses (which pulled me into the story), I felt that the story sometimes spat me out with it's non-linear timeline(s). I can see that it was sometimes necessary to jump around the years, but feel that Bexy did this more than necessary. It made the story more difficult to follow than it needed to be, especially as it must be borne in mind that most readers will read this story at multiple sittings. However, from my own scribblings I fully appreciate the difficulties in tackling much of the subject material as it is often highly emotive, so I will rate this as a 4-star reading experience.It has given me a little more insight into how to tackle my own effort, and also a pointer or two into what to avoid. If I can manage a publication that comes close to this level as my debut novel, I will consider it a job well done.

Most parents will tell you there is nothing more important than their kids. Not Bexy Cameron’s.They’d found God and lost part of their humanity in the process when they followed a cult created by David Berg, paedophile, pervert and self-appointed spokesman for the Almighty.Children like Bexy and her 11 siblings were brought up in his Children of God cult as trainee soldiers for the Lord, a boot camp for Armageddon, with punishment beatings, hard labour and psychological torture including being sent to Coventry for a year at a time.Bexy’s story reads like a thriller in places, a Handmaid’s Tale-style escape story not set in a dystopian future but in rural Leicestershire. Not at the Biblical End Time, but the back end of the 20th Century.Later she goes on a mission to see if studying modern cults can throw light on what happened to her as a child in a gripping American road trip through the byways of a twisted version of Christianity.At the heart of the book is the enigma of her parents, and its moving climax is a confrontation with them in the English seaside town close to where her father grew up.It brings the story full circle with a strange irony. After years of roving the globe to preach the end of the world, he’s washed up back where he started.By turn heart-breaking and inspirational, this book demonstrates how groupthink which allows only one truth always blinds believers to the difference between right and wrong, while the children brought up within it instinctively know there is a better way.If there is a God of love, perhaps that’s where He, She or It really lives. All The Children of God needed to have done was look at their own children (after all, weren’t they God’s, too?) to find the answers they sought in the love they wanted to give their mothers and fathers, but weren’t allowed to.

This was a brave and courageous outpouring from Bexy who had endured her young life within a notorious cult. She has to struggle to regain her sanity and the book goes between her childhood and adult struggles to lead a 'normal' life. The switch between different time periods is a little confusing at first, but the book was very interesting and thought provoking.

A poignant and grateful telling of her time in a cult mixed with an attempt to undercover the truth of other cults, the hope that they will be better with the dark knowledge that mostly they want

I am ploughing through this account of one oung woman's experience of growing up in the "Children of God" cult. It jumps around between her childhood and her later experiences in creating a documentary about cults. But strangely I haven't found it compulsive reading: maybe because the main characters don't come across as rounded people. Everyone is a bit flat and ill-defined. What do they look like? How do they think and feel? What are their relationships with other people? These things matter to a reader, allowing us to engage with the individuals. But we don't get much to satisfy that need. Admittedly, I am only half way through, but it's becoming a labour to finish, and it's not a long book! I will persevere, but it's hard work.

There is something so upsetting about reading other peoples experiences. The journey that Bexy went through and learnt from is astounding.I could not put the book down. It made me late for work a handful of times. I am so happy that she was able to heal and learn from all that has happened, she sounds like an amazing woman. I would 100% recommend this book. I don't want to label it as thrilling, on the edge of my seat.. as it is somebody's real life but I am so so shocked about all that I have learned and I felt like I went on the journey with her as I was reading it.Again, definitely purchase this book!

Cult Following is a beautifully written, yet darkly harrowing story that has you desperate to scoop up the main character Bexy, along with all her many siblings and give them the childhood and love that was stollen from them. It takes you on a rollercoaster of laughter,tears, fear, anger and humour as she revisit's cults as a documentary maker trying to make sense of why her parents would allow this to happen to her. You cant put the book down, and the reality that this was someones childhood will never leave you. A must read!

I found this a fascinating insight into how people are drawn to cults and how they then can behave in horrifying ways even towards their own children. Kept me interested throughout.