We think of cults as bizarre, inexplicable or otherworldly places that only strange people inhabit, but cults and other abusive and high-demand groups (and relationships) are actually quite commonplace. In fact, the behaviors, social pressures and authoritarian structures that create cults exist to a greater or lesser extent in every human relationship and every human group.

In the first in-depth research of its kind, the author interviewed 65 people who were born in or grew up in 39 different cultic groups spanning more than a dozen countries. What’s especially interesting about these individuals is that they each left the cult on their own, without outside help or internal support.

In Escaping Utopia: Growing Up in a Cult, Getting Out, and Starting Over, the authors craft Lalich’s original and groundbreaking research into an accessible and engaging book, the first of its kind focusing on this particular population.

Karla McLaren