East Sussex author explores life-long fascination with cults

Fiona, aged 58, said: “I’ve spent many an hour wondering why ordinary, intelligent people get sucked into them. Because of the faults of society perhaps.

"Self-proclaimed Messiahs, unlike politicians, tend to opine that capitalism and social inequality, the two mainstays of society, will lead to mankind’s destruction.

“So perhaps the idea of living in a utopia under the auspices of a charismatic guru is simply more appealing. Or maybe they join as a way of seizing control of their destiny because life has been mapped out for them.

“You don’t have to be depressed to find the world an intimidating place, and if a handsome man tells you the world is about to end but can offer you eternal life in a spiritual realm, then he’s a superhero, which is exciting and a bit sexy.

“The moment I mention I’ve written a book set in a doomsday cult, people’s ears prick up. Cults are profoundly interesting to those of us who have never lived in one. There is something odd, sinister and incomprehensible about them.

"As I have never lived in a cult, before I could plan Angel Town, and as with all my other books, I immersed myself in research. I watched a lot of insightful documentaries – there are plenty of them out there – and read a lot of moving books written by battle-scarred survivors, some of whom had lived all their lives in a cult. For anyone interested, I reference these at the back of the book.

“The narrative for my books usually arises from a what-if question, but for Angel Town there were two. 1) What if you were born into a cult and knew nothing of the outside world? 2) What if everything you’d ever been told was a lie?

"Next, I had to create my characters and imagine the setting. In the eighties, there seemed to be a proliferation of cults across America, with quite a few based in California.

"The Colorado desert seemed a remote enough place for my fictional cult, The Guardians of God, to flourish without scrutiny from the authorities. I was keen to write from the viewpoint of two women. Donna, a mother trying to extract her teenage son from the charismatic leader’s vice-like grip, and Lois, a teenage girl who’d been born and bred in the cult. But I couldn’t stop wondering who in their right mind would bring up a child in a cult.

"After The Other Side of the Mountain, I’d vowed never to write from three viewpoints ever again but I needed to explore this question and so Lois’ mother, Esther, came into being. And in case you’re curious, by the time I’d finished the story I believe I’d found my answer.

“I have written five other books. Killing Fame was a mystery about a film director torn apart by the press at the height of his fame, now on the comeback trail. I used to work as a film publicist so had plenty of material to draw on for this one.”