Home: Zoe's fight for freedom

I just had to read Home by first-time Scottish author, Cailean Steed. I've always been interested in cults, how people get sucked into them, and the power wielded by their (usually male) leaders. Home is not a light read, but if you're interested in the subject matter, give it a go.

Home | Published January 2023 | Read July 2024

In Home, Zoe has escaped from the cult she was raised in and is working in a Dublin café. She leads a simple life, well supported by the woman who owns the café. Zoe's peaceful life is interrupted when she discovers that a man has broken into her flat. This man is someone she has tried so hard to escape from, the cult leader known as the Hand of God. He seems to know everything about Zoe and has obviously been creeping about watching her for some time.

The Hand of God shows Zoe a photo of her sister, Amy, and tells Zoe that Amy is in danger. Zoe returns to the isolated cult compound - Home - to rescue Amy who had helped her escape some years before. Zoe's decision to return sends her back to enforced worship and strict gender roles and to the abuse and indoctrination she's fought desperately to overcome.

I was super impressed with Home as a debut novel. I like the way Steed jumps between the past and the present, showing how Zoe navigates her childhood within the strict confines of the cult world and then fights her way to freedom. Zoe's journey of growth as she learns to live outside the cult is beautifully portrayed. The book is dark and disturbing and I found the corruption and abuse and indoctrination of women and children in the cult hard to read at times. That said, there is an authenticity to the story that I connected with, and its message of hope and survival makes the book rise above its bleak subject matter. Steed does a brilliant job of world-building and I felt completely immersed in the cult as I worked my way through the book.

Another interesting part of the book is its examination of manipulation within the psychology of cults. Steed demonstrates nuance in the relationships that are explored in the story and presents a fascinating account of the weaponisation of Zoe as she is singled out as The Chosen One. Without spoiling the ending, this weaponisation takes a different turn as Zoe fights to rescue Amy and escape the cult for a second time.

Home is unsettling to say the least, but it's a gripping story of the dangers of religious extremism, corruption and abuse of power. It delves into the crushing of individual identities in cults, particularly through the subjugation of women. Identity is a strong theme throughout the book, and I was rooting for Zoe to find her way back to her hard-fought new identity the whole way through.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐