Rebecca Wait

Jamie and Emma’s family is struggling to come to terms with overwhelming grief and loss. Their brother Kit died a few years ago. Jamie has left home and doesn’t keep in touch, but there is no escaping from his feelings of guilt and sadness. Emma is much younger, still at school, and is stuck at home with parents who can’t talk about Kit to her or to each other.

This is a well written novel, but what made it so powerful and moving was the author’s exploration of her characters’ show more feelings through a narrative which alternates between Emma and Jamie. The characters aren’t always likeable – Emma is very self-absorbed while her brother has withdrawn into himself, hiding behind his Alistair Maclean novels. Gradually they engage our sympathy, though.

There are no easy answers to what’s wrong with this family, but this is a powerful novel for those who like stories about characters rather than ones driven by plot and action. show less

A book full of emotion.

I haven't listened to any books from Audible for quite a while, but I randomly selected this one and was impressed by how well it came across, expertly read by Mandy Weston and Carl Prekopp. It was mainly narrated by Ms Weston, but Carl Prekopp read the letters with the voice of Jamie, and that worked really well.

Rose and Joe have three children, Jamie and Kit, are teenagers, and Emma is their much younger sister. Emma is having problems in school and has found her show more niche as a member of the Christian Union. She is overweight and suffering from insecurities which alienate her from the other students. Food has become her crutch in a family where her eldest brother has died, her younger brother left home after an argument on the day of the funeral and no-one will talk about any of it.

As the story unravels, we gradually learn the background: how Kit came to die, where Jamie is and why silence is so rigidly maintained.

The young author has beautifully captured the cruelty of depression and the devastation it can wreak on a family. She writes with feeling about grief and its consequences, and the result is a book that could provide an excellent starting point for discussion on such topics.

Definitely an author to look out for. show less

I’ve been deeply interested in cults since I was in California during the Heaven’s Gate mass suicide. I remember seeing footage of the crime scene on the television, and being completely horrified and yet taken with the idea that this group believed that a spaceship was on the tail of Hale-Bopp comet. Ever since then, I’ve had a twisted interest in books about cults, be they true stories or not, and the way that people can fall into them. So when I stumbled upon a New York Times show more article about “The Followers” by Rebecca Wait, I requested it, thinking that it was going to be a thrilling yarn about a scary cult wreaking havoc. While I sat on the couch reading it (making a lot of scandalized noises that my husband kept enquiring about, until the fifth time and he just stopped asking), I was totally engrossed. This was everything I wanted it to be, but it was a bit more than I bargained for as well. After all, at the heart of this is the story of a woman who takes her daughter and whisks them both away at the whims of a religious fanatic who has completely cast her under his spell. So, you know. Fun times.

The thing that stuck me most was that it shifted between various levels of believer/non believer. First we have Stephanie, the single mother who falls in love with “The Prophet” Nathanial. She feels so doted on and loved by Nathanial when they first start dating, and she feels so trapped in her life as a single working mother, that his affection is enough to make her pick up her entire life and follow him anywhere. As I read it was clear that Nathanial was big trouble, but I could also completely understand why Stephanie wanted to go with him, even if I was cursing her and the terrible decisions she was making. Then there is the perspective of Stephanie’s daughter Judith, whose adolescent rebellion is only kicked up a few notches when they move to the commune. She’s a strong willed girl who may have treaded towards unbelievable in her mental strength, but she felt so real and so well realized that I didn’t even care. Then you have Moses, the only friend that Judith makes at the commune, who was born into it and fully believes that not only is Nathanial the Prophet and the ourside world the road to hell, but that his birthmark on his face is a mark of the devil. At first I was very worried about him and his intentions towards Judith, but he really is just the epitome of naive wonderment, raised in a warped society that is all he’s known. And finally you have Thomas, a long time member of Nathanial’s thrall, but who has started questioning it. With these different characters on different parts of the belief scale, Rachel Wait has done a great job of showing the full gamut of emotions for the members.

I loved the description of the commune, which is located in the Moors of England. The isolation was palpable, both physically (with the description of few buildings and many bogs, forests, and other barriers) and emotionally. The members are told that if they leave they can never come back, and will be doomed to stay in “Gehenna” and probably rot with all the nonbelievers when the end of days comes. The manipulation that Nathanial administered to his disciples was also incredibly creepy, through kind syrupy promises and yet no physical action of his own to place his controls upon them. I think that Wait hit the nail on the head with Nathanial, and he was the perfect villain, just as Stephanie, Moses, and the other members were perfect victims. And yet this was told in such a way that it always felt a couple steps up from your run of the mill thriller. We also got to see beyond the cult moments, and where Judith and Stephanie ended up after all was said and done. Spoiler alert, it’s pretty bleak. But along with the overarching bleakness, there was also a fair amount of purity and hope, specifically through the friendship between Judith and Moses. They are both outcasts in their own ways in the commune, and while he’s a true believer and she’s a non believer, they forge a bond that was absolutely sweet and powerful. They really do bring out the best in each other, and their types of belief and non belief feel more constructive than those of Stephanie and Thomas. Every time they were together, my heart would grow ten sizes bigger.

And yes, the slow build up of terror as the cult starts to fall apart was absolutely riveting. I love a good slow burn build up, and “The Followers” really nails the ‘frog in a pot of boiling water’ pace.

All in all, “The Followers” was an entertaining and insightful story that exceeded my expectations. If a good and twisty cult story is your idea of a good time, definitely pick this one up. You’ll get a bit more than you bargained for in the best way possible. show less

The View on the Way Down is a beautifully written story. It tells of a fractured family: Kit who died five years ago; Jamie who, unable to cope with his brother's death, left home five years ago and hasn't been seen since; Emma, their younger sister, struggling to cope at school; and their parents, Rose and Joe, drowning in their grief and resentment.

The story is told from different viewpoints, each of them written with great empathy and understanding. I loved Emma and her teenage woes, and show more Jamie came across as someone wounded by life. It's not fully clear until part 3 what has happened to the family but as the story unfolded I could not help but feel sympathy towards each character.

I loved this book. It's understated yet so full of meaning. A very moving, lovely, book.

Thank you to the publishers for allowing me to review this book through Netgalley. show less