The Cresswell Plot by Eliza Wass (review)

Castley and her five siblings live out in the woods of upstate New York, with their checked-out, broken mother and their religious zealot of a father, who is determined to break his children too. He’s got them paired off for eventual incestuous marriages to each other, he locks them up when they sin, and he kept them out of school until forced to enroll them. It’s clear that things are headed toward a major fallout, as the teens increasingly push boundaries and their father becomes more terrifying and unhinged; though it isn’t obvious exactly what’s coming, it’s sure to be grim. Castley’s narration is gripping as she vacillates between almost believing her father and wanting to protect her family to wishing she could run away and recreate herself. It’s a shame that some of her siblings get far less attention, given the fact that they are all vulnerable and compelling in different ways. Additionally, much of the horror seems there for its own sake rather than the plot’s sake, particularly given the fact that the father’s insanity isn’t ever well explained. Even so, it makes sense that Castley wouldn’t put much time into trying to figure out her dad, as she’s been used to his particular sort of deranged all her life. Readers who can’t get enough of cult books may find this close enough (isolation, abuse, twisting of religious concepts) to satisfy that fascination.