Abigail is a proud member of the New America Baptist Church. Living miles away from the nearest town in South Carolina, she is safe from the depraved modern world.

She is a good daughter. A valued member of the community.

So when she is the sole survivor of a fire that burns her family’s home to the ground, it seems like a tragic accident.

Until a surprising discovery is made: before the fire, Abigail let a stranger in.

Who was the stranger? What started the fire? And was the outside world always the threat – or did danger lurk within the community’s walls?

The Good Daughter is a dark, engrossing, gripping read set in a place called Newhaven Plantation, South Carolina, USA. The place is run by The New America Baptist Church which in reality is a cult.

The book is told from the POV of Abigail Heywood who is the daughter of the Pastor of the church. The story is written in two parts, present-day and before. In the present, there has just been a fire at Abigail’s house in which her parents were killed but she survived. In this part, we meet members of the church/cult, the police, forensic people, etc. who all want answers. However, Abigail can’t remember anything.

Before is set three weeks prior to the fire and we watch as Abigail meets a Podcaster, Summer, who is writing a Podcast about the church and she wants to interview Abigail for it, with the hook that perhaps Abigail can persuade her to join their church.

The plot is richly character-driven. You know from the start that something is amiss but the shocks and revelations are more than I expected, including some that may be too much for some readers. I have a love for books that are set within cults and have read many. All of which have been very different in some ways and so much alike in others. The brainwashing and religious aspects are always present as are the way women and girls are treated compared to their male counterparts.

Overall, The Good Daughter had me turning the pages at warp speed, I couldn’t read it fast enough. It is transfixing, sinister, and powerful. I love that within the story the reader has audio clips to review, news articles to read, and documents to peruse, plus much more. If you love a good thriller that will shock you to your core then this is the book to pick up.

Laure Van Rensburg is a French writer living in the UK and an Ink Academy alumna. Her stories have appeared in online magazines and anthologies such as Litro Magazine, Storgy Magazine, The Real Jazz Baby (2020 Best Anthology, Saboteur Awards 2020), and FIVE:2:ONE. She has also placed in competitions including 2018 & 2019 Bath Short Story Award.