by Shari Franke
First published 2025
Shari Franke's world unravels when a local journalist publishes an exposé on the cult her mother once led. As Shari digs into the disturbing history, she must reconcile the woman she thought she knew with the leader of a dangerous, manipulative group. Caught between her mother's evasions and her own unresolved trauma, Shari fights to untangle the truth, no matter the personal cost. An intimate, propulsive story about the legacies we inherit and the courage it takes to break free.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, memoir, family-drama
Vibes: intimate, propulsive, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Utah, USA
Period: 2000s, 2010s, 2020s, 2003-2023
297 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: abuse