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Occulted
Amy Rose shares her experiences with growing up in a cult in her graphic memoir Occulted.
In 1997, at the age of nine, Amy Rose saw the Hale-Bopp comet in the sky. It corresponded with a tragedy: the members of the nearby Heaven’s Gate cult committed mass suicide that night. Hearing news reports that mentioned the cult, Rose became intrigued about the group that she lived with.
Flashbacks reveal that Rose’s family was enticed into a cult with promises of yoga, meditation, and community; her father left it soon after joining, but Rose and her mother remained. Kept from school, Rose explored the cult leader’s secret library and learned that what she’d been told about aliens and the impending end of the world might not be true. Considered a troublesome distraction, Rose was sent to live with other cult member families, gaining access to a public library that further clarified the nature of her circumstances. At twelve, she was kicked out of the cult and reunited with her father, who guided her when it came to rejoining society.
A saga of manipulation, lies, and greed, the book shows how people are lured into groups that claim their attention, finances, and identities. It’s striking that, even with Rose’s appealing curiosity and inner strength, it took several fortunate, unpredictable turns for her to free herself from the cult’s grip.
With engaging, manga-influenced art that gives a child’s-eye perspective to its events, the graphic memoir Occulted is a tense, thrilling account of escaping a cult.
Reviewed by
Peter Dabbene
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
