Review by Lions2019 -- The Cult Next Door

[Lions2019]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Cult Next Door" by Elizabeth R. Burchard, Judith L. Carlone.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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I would rate this book as a 4 out of 4 stars due to the accuracy and challenges expressed by the author while living in a cult-type life setting. I believe anyone who has had this type of experience, or are curious why others are so drawn to the cult life, would enjoy this book. The book is hard to put down. I easily could have read it in one sitting! The story moves along smoothly and really grasped my attention from the start. I felt like she carried me along with every part of her life and the challenges she faced. I wanted to reach in and help her so many times!


Elizabeth begins her story by describing herself and the steps she took through higher education, having parents also with degrees. The trouble seems to start when her mother divorces her father. Elizabeth finds happiness during her visitations with her father, while her mother seeps slowly into her own mental world looking for the perfection of physical, mental, and spiritual health. Sadly, Elizabeth is taken along with her mother into a world many never escape. She finds herself guided into a life with a man who demeans her in every way. While this leader, named George, is taking the souls from his followers who shower him with admiration, he displays the typical personality type of a cult leader by claiming to have all the answers, including the answers to the meaning of life and all that entails. His main goal is to only have his own needs and desires fulfilled. He finds every way possible to drain his followers of their freedom of choice and their bank accounts. Each time Elizabeth feels she can get a foot up in life, the “family” is right there to take more than their part by justifying that any endeavor would fail without them. Thankfully, Elizabeth isn’t without that small voice inside to guide her along the way. Is that voice loud enough, and when will it become her true voice?


This is a very well edited book describing not only the mental and physical struggles, but also the spiritual struggles of someone caught in the whirlwind of a leader who claims he is connected to a higher power the rest of us can not obtain. Throughout her story, she reminds the reader that these followers are not ignorant people, but often those of higher education and intelligence, including bits of their stories along the way as well. This really gave me a full perspective of the followers’ personalities and how they became manipulated over the years.


The Cult Next Door: A Manhattan Memoir by Elizabeth R. Burchard, LSW and Judith L. Carlone is a well written book from someone who experienced a lot of mental, emotional, and physical hardship through many years of her life. She is able to walk you through her life, her decisions, and concerns in her words to help you see what she and others dealt with having accepted a cult as a family unit, and how it affects them through the years. I chose this book not only out of general interest, but also to learn of the experiences first hand from someone who was a part of a cult unit or ”family”.

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The Cult Next Door
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