When She Returned

This shocking and captivating story drew me in and never let me go! Great thrilling read but I don’t want to spoil anything but saying to much about the plot! Definitely recommend it though!

I have to say that I expected a bit more from this book, as this is one of my favorite authors. She has a way with telling dark stories that aren’t always comfortable and do not have happy endings. They are realistic and straightforward, often making you questions deep seated, long-held beliefs. With this story, I felt that it was too much of ‘what you see is what you get’ and there was no surprises or twists beyond what you expect. The subject matter seemed a little lighter than usual, at least partly, as the cult brainwashing that affects the main character, Kate, is easily foreseeable and well known. You think that where she has been after she disappeared will be a long reveal, but you find out pretty early on. How exactly it happens is not revealed until later, with the expected dramatic fallout ensuing.

The story alternates from how she was groomed to become a member in the past, and how her family deals with the return of her and her new baby in the present. Kate’s husband is now remarried to a very (as in, too) understanding new woman named Meredith and Kate’s daughter, Abbi, is now 16 and barely remembers her mother from before she disappeared. Everyone is as uncomfortable as you would expect and has no idea what will happen after they move her into their home, which is still the house that she lived in.

I thought her initiation into the cult was a little rapid for a seemingly intelligent woman. Almost as if she was just a bored housewife losing interest in her husband who jumps at the first opportunity at a new life. It doesn’t reflect well on her character and naivete, as she too easily believes everything she is told. The new wife is also way too accepting of her husband’s attachment to Kate. Yes, he & Kate were first loves, soulmates, etc. but he refuses to discuss how it affects his relationship with Meredith and how he’s always pushing her aside. There’s only so much understanding and empathy you can show before you would stand up for yourself, which doesn’t happen. I didn’t expect this author to portray her female characters as such weak creatures.

I would still recommend the book, but with the caveat that it won’t be as you expect from her past works. And if this is your first time reading this author, you will be pleasantly surprised by her other stories!

I loved this book. The story line is different than what I generally read. I experienced this novel through the Kindle Unlimited Read and Listen option. I generally switch back and forth frequently but with this novel the audio narration was so good that the majority of it I listened to. The characters are well developed and the story is suspenseful, intense, and full of emotional out pouring. There are twists and turn galore. I like the way it is written in different characters POV and in different timelines. It all flows so well.

Kate Bennett went shopping and disappeared. Her keys, purse, groceries were found in her car still parked at the shopping mall. She left behind her husband, a young daughter, and a promising career.

Eleven years later showed up at a gas station, clutching an infant and screaming for help.

In the meantime her husband had her declared legally dead and has since remarried. Her daughter barely remembers her.

Problems begin when the former husband invites Kate to stay with him, his now-wife and daughter while she recuperates from the traumas she has suffered.

It seems like they all have secrets … and some secrets are much more menacing than others.

The story premise is a good one, although I can’t say it was highly suspenseful. It’s more a mystery than a thriller. It’s Kate’s voice that leads the reader from the days that led up to her disappearance, what happened while she was gone, from them to now. It also tells the story of how the new wife accepts this woman into her home and the turmoil this causes.

As the family unravels, a series of shocking revelations shows that Kate’s return is more sinister than any of them could have imagined. The ending was somewhat predictable … but the book is still well worth reading.

Many thanks to the author / Thomas & Mercer / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological mystery. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

What happens when the soul wants something greater than its physical circumstances allow? When the search for meaning leads one to acts of incredible sacrifice? And what seperates honest, sincere devotion to God and deranged fanatacism to a psychopath? In When She Returns, Lucinda Berry asks us to explore these questions.

Kate Berry leaves behind a husband, daughter, and seemingly ideal suburban life to follow the compelling Ray and his Love International movement, believing she is doing the Lord’s work. Instead, she is broken down, tortured, and brainwashed. She is beaten, starved, deprived of basic comforts and needs, but she never protests or tries to leave. She does it all willingly and with full consent. How does this happen to a rational adult? I would like to say the book answers this, but it doesn’t quite get there. In attempting to show the impact of Kate’s disappearance into the cult on her husband, daughter, and her husband’s second wife we end up with a jumbled, back and forth narrative that feels more like a series of snapshots than a cohesive story.

It’s a bold undertaking, and the story is compelling. It draws you in and moves quickly, but the quickness sometimes sacrifices details that would make the characters a bit more real, more impacted by the events. We skim the surface of hurt, betrayal, longing, and disbelief without fully immersing in the aftermath of her disappearance and subsequent return. It’s not a bad story, or poorly told, but it skips and hops to an ending that feels like a sudden halt instead of inevitable resolution.

If you have no knowledge or experience with how cults operate and how easy it is to be drawn in, you might scoff or think certain aspects are contrived, but I found these parts to be the most real and genuine. The desire to be special, and connect with something larger than ourselves, makes us vulnerable to the kind of tactics and people described in When She Returns, and that might make some uncomfortable. It’s a vood reminder that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Read this book if you want a glimpse into how fringe religions and cults operate in our society and how losing a loved one to these groups destroys more than one life. It is an eye opening experience.