When her second son, Billy, goes missing the authorities assume history is merely repeating itself - but is it? Freya, for instance, has a troubled past in which she was accused of having done something terrible to her young son, Aspen, who was “lost” more than a decade ago and has never been found. She is paranoid enough to own a big dog trained to attack on command and have several panic buttons installed in her home.Īs the tale of these two separate female characters unfold we learn more about them and begin to understand that not all is at it seems and that neither is particularly reliable.

The second focuses on Freya, a single mother living on an isolated farm, who has a fortress-like mentality and is deeply concerned about a young couple in a van trespassing on her property. Food is in short supply, abuse (psychological, physical and sexual) is rife and anyone who steps out of line is subject to “realignment” therapy. In the first storyline, Amy is a young teenage member of the cult, known as “The Clearing”, who is in charge of looking after a new, recently kidnapped member to ensure she adapts to the group’s ideals. The suspense-filled story weaves two separate narrative threads together that eventually collide in an unexpected and thrilling climax - albeit one I guessed fairly early on. Taking elements of the real-life notorious 1980s Australian cult The Family - in which Anne Hamilton-Byrne, the enigmatic female leader, convinced followers she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and “stole” children to groom in her own image - Pomare spins a compelling tale about what happens when a cult member escapes to reinvent herself on the outside. JP Pomare’s In The Clearing is a psychological suspense novel that poses the question: what would life be like if you grew up in a cult but escaped it as an adult? How would your life return to normal if you did not know what normal was like? And would you be forever looking over your shoulder, wondering if members of the cult were out to get you? Inspired by a notorious cult Fiction – Kindle edition Hodder 336 pages 2020.

Jp pomare in the clearing