
The Followers (Paperback)
Rebecca Wait (author)- In stock
'A restrained tour-de-force, profoundly unsettling, brilliantly executed, and deeply humane . . . remarkable' Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven
Judith has been visiting her mother, Stephanie, in prison once a month for the last eight years. Nearly a hundred stilted half hours - hundreds of failed conversations, hundreds of topics avoided. Neither of them can bring themselves to talk about what brought them here - or about Nathaniel . . .
When Stephanie first meets him, she is a struggling single mother and Nathaniel is a charismatic outsider, unlike anyone she's ever known. In deciding to join the small religious cult he has founded high on the moors, Stephanie thinks she is doing the best for her daughter: a new home, a new life, a new purpose.
Judith has never trusted Nathaniel, but even she can't foresee the terrible things that lie ahead. From the moment they arrive, the delicate dynamic of Nathaniel's followers is disturbed. Judith's restlessness and questions unsettle the children who've never known life outside the cult - all except loyal Moses, who will do anything to be her friend. Meanwhile, as Stephanie slowly surrenders herself to Nathaniel's will, tensions deepen, faith and doubt collide, and a horrifying act of violence changes everything. In the shattering aftermath, no one seems safe, and for Judith and Moses the biggest leap of faith is still to come . . .
Powerful, gripping, and impossible to forget, Rebecca Wait's The Followers is a novel about love, hope, and identity that asks timely questions. Are we still responsible for our actions if we remake ourselves in someone else's image? And is there any way back . . . ?
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9781447224754
Number of pages: 256
Weight: 386 g
Dimensions: 203 x 127 x 20 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
Wait's confident plotting leads the reader towards a climax as satisfying as it is inevitable . . . The tenderness and the transformative nature of the ending . . . are truly moving. * Independent on Sunday *
A restrained tour-de-force, a profoundly unsettling, brilliantly executed, and deeply humane depiction of a slow slide toward an unspeakable act, and the difficulty and necessity of finding a way to live in the aftermath. The Followers is a remarkable novel. -- Emily St. John Mandel, author of STATION ELEVEN
Such a suspenseful and compassionate book, never more so than in its feeling for certain characters, the disorderliness of their inner lives, their vulnerability. I thought it remarkable -- Sunjeev Sahota, author of OURS ARE THE STREETS
I really enjoyed this quietly terrifying and suspenseful exploration of obedience to authority and the dangers of fundamentalism -- Carys Bray, author of A SONG FOR ISSY BRADLEY
Gripping * Daily Express *
Rebecca Wait describes the world of The Followers with such vividness that I dreamt about her cold, misty moorland, and with such tenderness that the ending brought tears to my eyes -- Alison Moore, Man Booker Prize-shortlisted author of THE LIGHTHOUSE
A page-turning finish * Daily Mail *
The Followers is a powerful book. Told with great subtlety and insight, it takes us to the far reaches of human experience to reveal the seams that bind together faith, logic, understanding and our sense of self - and shows how easily a psyche can be ripped apart. Rebecca Wait's writing has beauty, steel, economy and winning flashes of humour, and her plot is gripping. I was a convert from the very first page -- Ann Morgan, author of READING THE WORLD
A gripping tale of a violent sect in a flooded land, awaiting the end of the world, The Followers is also a beautifully moving story of the limits of faith and the power of family, those we make and those we choose. It will stay with me for a long time -- Peggy Riley, author of AMITY AND SORROW
The Followers is a highly affecting and beautiful novel, both tender and brutal. It's a poignant examination of power, faith and family, and a story that stays with you long after you turn the last page -- Nicci Cloke, author of LAY ME DOWN
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