Cult Following by Bexy Cameron

Author: Bexy Cameron

Title: Cult Following 

Publisher: Manilla Press

Published: 2021

Pages: 390

Genre: Memoir / True Crime 

     Bexy Cameron was in her late twenties when the dark events of her past finally caught up with her. Bexy was born into the Children of God, one of the world's most notorious cults. She was 9 years old when she experienced her first exorcism, held in a secret commune deep in the British countryside. At 10, she was placed on Silence Restriction, forced to be silent for a whole year. Even from an early age, she knew what was happening was not right. At the age of 15, she escaped, leaving behind her parents and 11 siblings. Haunted by her past, Bexy set off on a road trip across America, embedding herself in the underbelly of religious cults, living with children who, like her, are born into the worlds their parents and cult leaders have created for them.

     Over the last few years, It is safe to say that I have binged watched or read a great deal about cults both fictional and real. Maybe this has been spurred on by the recent slew of documentaries coming on just about every streaming service going. And I do wonder what our fascination with this topic is. Maybe in part, it is our insatiable quest to learn the horrific and gruesome details. We sit in our safe little homes wondering how and why people put themselves into these situations. So then maybe for some, it is a deep wanting to understand how these cults a rise and why people are willing to give themselves completely over to the deranged whims of their leaders. We sit and silently judge these people for the decisions they have made. And question why is it that so many of these cult seems to end up in child abuse. I do sometimes wonder what this says about us all that we are willing to devote some of our time to learn about such things. 

     I knew nothing about Bexy Cameron before I came across this book. I did however know of the cult her parents had brought them into. The Children of God is a name that has gone down in infamy. Even those who have no interest in such a topic have a vague knowledge of the name.  It is after all still cropping up in the news to this day. In part, this may be down to some very famous people now who were members when they were kids. Or it is just as likely that its sins still seemed to be spilling out long after it should have been closed down and relegated to the past. Nevertheless, I now find myself in the company of Miss Cameron and starting her journey not only in how she came to be in The Children of God but also in the path to living a life after it. For me, this is in part what sets it apart from others of its ilk. 

     If you are looking for a book that is full of disturbing facts and salacious stories I don't think this is going to be that book for you. The author takes to her narrative with a tender and caring touch. She wants us to understand all she has been through. But she doesn't feel like she is trying to draw sympathy from us for the sake of sales. She leads us through her time in the cult but is inter-spliced with where she finds herself now. We also get to dip into a few of the cults that are currently active as she visits them. It feels like this slightly weird dark tourism but does at least give us some context for what's going on with some of the more prominent other cults. It is after all I would imagine another form of healing. This need to find a way to live your life with the trauma that has come before. What she then gives us is a fascinating book without the need to sensationalize her story. 

     Cult Following was a book that didn't necessarily go where I thought it was going to. But I have to say that it was one that I greatly enjoyed. I feel like we got to know her and rather than just focusing on what happened within the cult. It helps to make this book stand out in the plethora of books that have come out in the last year or so.