it takes a village, or is it a cult?

When Lenna agreed to meet Rhiannon again, after she’d disappeared for years, to take her baby to a community in the Arizona desert, Lenna had no idea what was waiting for her. There are windstorms and snakes, secrets and lies. But mostly, there is a part of her past that she’ll have to face if she wants to make it back home again.

Years before, Rhiannon had helped Lenna get a job. Rhiannon was working for a gossip magazine, and she met Lenna, an aspiring magazine writer. Rhiannon tried to get her a writer job on her magazine, but all that was available was a story editor position. Lenna took it anyway, hoping that once she got her foot in the door, she’d be able to find opportunities to write. Instead, she found herself stuck in the tedious editing job. And Rhiannon disappeared.

With Rhiannon on radio (and cell phone) silence, Lenna is befriended by a woman named Gillian who worked in the same building. Gillian told Lenna all of Rhiannon’s secrets, like how she’d been keeping Lenna from writing assignments, how she was flirting with a coworker that Lenna was interested in, how she’d lied about her family. Lenna felt betrayed. She felt abandoned by Rhiannon. And then she learned something about Gillian that made her feel so alone.

And later, years later, after Lenna had married and had a baby, Rhiannon reappeared and invited her to Arizona. Lenna wanted to go, she wanted to reconnect with her friend, and she had found herself struggling. Motherhood was harder than she thought, so she packed up some things for her and her baby and caught a flight. She traveled across the country to the community Rhiannon was living in, Halcyon, a safe place for women and children. She’d only left a note for her husband.

But once she got to Halcyon, she wasn’t sure what she’d stumbled into. There were rules, like no men, no talking to men even, and no asking about the women’s pasts. They grew their own food and made very little waste (making Lenna self-conscious about the disposable diapers she brought). And there were secrets. Lenna started to feel uncomfortable. She felt bad about how she’d left things with her husband. She wanted to leave. Rhiannon told her that she would take care of everything.

And then Rhiannon disappeared. Again.

Lenna is alone in a strange place, with no cash or credit cards. Her phone isn’t working. She has no way to get to the airport. And the woman who leads the group is telling her she can’t leave the compound. Will Lenna and her baby survive, or is this the end for them?

Nowhere Like Home is the latest from Sara Shepard, known best for her Pretty Little Liars series. This one takes a dark look at female friendships and the damage that secrets and lies can do to them. This story bounces back and forth between the past and the present, taking its time to lead readers to the truth of what’s going on within the walls of the Arizona compound.

I love a good cult story, so I was intrigued at what was happening here. The story that unfolds between Lenna and Rhiannon is fascinating, trying to figure out where the deceptions are and why. Unraveling all the twists is a journey, and I was excited to take it all the way to the end. There are layers of revelations, lots of twists, and a surprise ending that left me a little stunned. Nowhere Like Home is a dark tale of female friendship and its pitfalls, but it’s also about how truth and friendship can save us.

Egalleys for Nowhere Like Home were provided by Dutton through NetGalley, with many thanks.