I first read this novel as a teenager myself, and it haunted me for years. Jessop’s book is a study in the resilience of the human spirit, and a psychologically acute chronicle of cult brainwashing and deprogramming. Jessop fled the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-day Saints-she was, in fact, the first woman to successfully escape the cult and keep her children, too. An epic unafraid to tackle race, class, and gender all at once. In a dystopian future, a young woman of color is inspired to create her own religion, urging humanity to find its future among the stars. It’s no exaggeration to say my book would not exist without Ms. THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER, by Octavia Butler I remain fascinated by Jessop’s journey and awed by her resilience. In fact, it was Carolyn Jessop’s amazing memoir, ESCAPE, that first planted the seed of this story in my mind. While writing, I sought fiction that featured spiritual seekers and religious revolutionaries, as well as memoirs written by women who escaped real-life cults. Every book is part of a lineage, a tradition, and AGNES AT THE END OF THE WORLD is no exception.
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