TBR Challenge: Rebecca Stott - In the Days of Rain

As Rebecca Stott’s father lay dying he begged her to help him write the memoir he had been struggling with for years. He wanted to tell the story of their family, who, for generations had all been members of a fundamentalist Christian sect. Yet, each time he reached a certain point, he became tangled in a thicket of painful memories and could not go on.

Comment: April is the month for "something different" in the TBR Challenge. I chose a non-fiction story because that is the usual difference in the things I read: I dedicate a lot more of my reading to fiction. 

I picked this book because the idea of reading about a cult (one that until the moment I got the book in my hands I had never heard about before) does seem fascinating, not much because of any weirdness those in it might have but because we are talking about people like anyone else so my fascination is more centered on the whys rather than the hows.

In this memoir/non fiction, the author writes about her experience growing up within the strict boundaries of a Christian sect whose more obvious distinction from the so called "normal" society was how they avoided talking and eating with others due to their belief everyone else is a sinner.

The author centers her tale around the history of her family and how they joined this initial group of people into having a different way of life and the slightly creepy way how things evolved from such a simple and humble position in life into such a restricting and separate way of behaving.

I suppose many people have heard about cults or sects or organized groups (religious or not) of a certain smaller dimension that have made their path opposed the majority. If these groups were just a bunch of people living their life with one or two distinguished details from the others, no one would really care. To some degree and to give an example, we have fan bases of musicians who defend or support their preferences with quite a will.

But of course what the common public usually likes about sects or cults is how different their rules are and the possible unimaginable steps those people take to follow them. In a way we also like to know about the shocking ways some of those groups behave and it's human nature to be interested in sexual content, so some of the groups whose tales come out regarding that are also often more interesting and debated.

In this novel, the Exclusive Brethren (one can look up information about it online) is portrayed as one group of people in the 19th century that decided the way people were living and behaving was not according to the Christian faith they followed. Therefore the idea was for them to separate from others in how they behaved, in how they talked but of course not really caring about other's opinions and without hurting anyone not like them.

With time things progressed and, as it often happens, the ideas and demands of those in charge got to be a conflict with the original message. From then on, the group got more and more separate from the rest of society and the biggest problems started.

It was also interesting to think about how these organized groups operate and make people do certain things, how justified those things can be for people to stop thinking for themselves in order to be part of a group. In a way, all groups do it (whether religious or other kind) but which is the last line between being part of something willingly or due to brainwash?

I liked reading this book because this is clearly a personal story and the information given does come across as more intriguing because we can see how important it is for the author and how much more empathy we get by knowing it's a true story.

I think my biggest problem with the reading process is that the author besides giving her story and that of her father within the group, she also gave a lot of information about her family, obviously to create a base for what was to come and to explain why her family, specifically, was a part of the sect. The thing is, so much information became a little boring at first and although the sometimes lyrical writing is beautiful, it can also be a little too whimsical for the type of story.

With this I mean that (and going back to what I wrote above) this is not a book about the scandalous acts of those within the group during its "darker" stages despite that being the probably first expectation of a reader. I liked knowing about the author but yes, I'd say she took a long time to get to the information she wanted to convey.

This book begun as an attempt to follow her father's wishes of writing about his own experience. Since her father died before that, she decided to do it herself. This also means a good part of the book is focused on the role her father had within the group and as an individual. I think the most fascinating and emotional sections were the last ones, when the family had to deal with the notion of faith. After some happenings that made the sect more famous, many elements decided to leave. 

I found myself more interested in the faith issue: after a life dedicated to those beliefs, to that system of behaving, how can people move on after they lose their faith? I know there are other books on this, I'm going to look for them at some point.

In general, I'd say this book makes one think about several aspects, both related to the cult depicted here and the sort of philosophical questions one can imagine regarding faith and belief. The modern woman in me also rebelled about the role women have in such a cult, namely the submissive and silent one. There's a lot of food for thought here but I guess I can divide the story like this: the content is fascinating and intriguing and here and there some details can seem creepy. The writing and the style sometimes make things look less appealing. Of course, it can all depend on personal preferences but for people not yet familiar with cults or such a type of living, this could work as a good introduction to this subject.

Grade: 7/10