Misfits in Gilead is the third of my novels about the Fellowship of Gilead. That is an authoritarian and fundamentalist religious cult, a fictional religion based upon the Jehovah’s Witnesses but with variations. In my previous Gilead novels I have told the stories of people who have broken free of their oppressive cult. Misfits in Gilead, as the title suggests, follows the stories of people who still believe the doctrines but are painfully aware of abuses within the fellowship and the need for reform – particularly the need remove the malignant legacy of the talentless bully who took over the top leadership after the demise of the movement’s founder, and took everything in the wrong direction.

One of these misfits has convinced himself that he is the one to bring about the necessary changes. But is he seeking genuine reform or self-aggrandisement? Misfits in Gilead tells the story of teenager Laura Dagnall’s attempts to track down this would-be reformer and find out what he is trying to achieve.

Misfits in Gilead is a short novel which leaves some questions still unanswered. I guess that means I must commit to writing another Gilead novel in the very near future.