Interview with Courtney Summers: How the new novel ‘The Project’ tackles cults

Author Courtney Summers wants to destroy you. Not literally, of course, but through the devastating young adult books she has spent the last decade writing. His last, The project, is no different. A heartbreaking look at cults and the people who fall prey to them, Summers’ ninth book releases February 2 via St. Martin’s Press.

The project focuses on Lo sisters, 19 and 20, Bea Denham, after their parents died and Bea entered a cult called Project Unity. After Bea cuts off all contact with Lo, the young woman worries about her sister’s whereabouts – it doesn’t help when a man comes to the magazine where she works as an assistant and claims the project Unity killed his son. Despite being fairly low on the magazine’s letterhead, Lo uses his influence to investigate the project’s charismatic leader, Lev Warren, and – in doing so, find Bea. What follows is a fascinating look at cults, who joins them and why.

Last book of summer – the New York Times most sold Sadie – was released in 2018 with great success; A dual-point of view novel, it follows Sadie, 19, on the run as she flees the brutal murder of her sister Mattie and podcaster West McCray, who is investigating Sadie’s disappearance. Both are currently available to read online through Amazon Kindle or as an audiobook through Audible.

Rolling stone spoke with Summers, 35, about cults, why she could see herself joining one and why she found inspiration in Jim Jones.

So why did you decide to write a book on cults?

After Sadie came out, I was trying so hard to figure out what the next book would be. And I kind of had a feeling I wanted it to be a cult because I was thinking about how no one thinks they would join a cult. They feel that they would be immune to this kind of influence and that they would never be as stupid as following a person and getting lost completely. Then I said to myself, “Am I that kind of person?” I have the impression of joining a sect.

I feel like the general mood of most people is that they resist this idea. And I think he’s the one who lacks empathy. You really have to take a lot of context out of what brings people into these situations to support the thesis that you are above making the same kinds of decisions.

I thought to myself, “I want to write a book that pushes for this.” But when I talked to my editor about it, I thought, “You have to talk me out of this because when you sit down to write a cult novel, there’s only one way to go, no. ? ” So it’s like, “Oh, that’s gonna be a lot of work.” Like how to keep the suspense, how to keep it tight, how to make sure that the emotions are in the foreground and that it’s emotionally alive because cult novels give themselves away every time. So it was a huge undertaking. I said to him, “Please tell me about this.” And she didn’t.

Why do you think you would join a cult, exactly?

I know the power of community and connections – the ones I’m a part of and the ones I’ve created. I don’t hesitate to admit that I am a vulnerable person. I think I have to be to tap into the part of me that wants to write about these things. I have to allow myself to be vulnerable, to be empathetic, to bring these kinds of emotions to the forefront of my process. But knowing this about myself is also knowing that these are actionable traits that are very easy for a person to have. I guess, you know, if I run into the right cult leader at the right time, I might have a hard time saying no. I really hope it doesn’t, but I’ll be honest with myself.

What kind of research have you done on cults?

I started very broadly. I just had an idea of, what is a cult? What makes the cult, who joined the cult? And then I ran into Peoples Temple and Jim Jones. And I was like, “This is it. This is what I need to build The project because there is such an interesting case study. The People’s Temple was deeply rooted in the civil rights movement. And they believed in helping people. They wanted everyone to be dressed, sheltered and fed. They wanted everyone to have health care. They really cared for their community. And their goal has been perverted by a man, a madman. And you could really see Jim Jones trying to appeal to the best natures in people, which I felt was unique. At first, it was not an apocalyptic approach. It was, “We can make the world a better place.” And I thought it was so tragic and heartbreaking.

Your brand on social media basically is, “This book will destroy you.” Let’s talk about it. Do you feel the pressure to make each book more painful than the last?

It’s really my brand taking it to the next level. And now it’s like a part of The projectmarketing from: “Courtney Summers Will Destroy You.” I mean, there’s gonna be a certain level of pressure on every release, after Sadie. It was definitely a little intense because it was my sixth book, but this is the one that broke. And everyone is saying how upset it has made them, but I’ve been bothering people for over a decade. I really love pushing it. I never want to leave a reader happy. I just want them to be upset. I will never fully achieve my goal all the time. But if I’m happy with the end product, I know I’m going to have upset someone. I feel the pressure to ruin people’s lives, but I stand up to respond whenever I like to think.

There is a lot of pressure in YA fiction to inspire, to keep readers motivated. Why do you want to “ruin people’s lives”?

One thing that I constantly explore in my work is violence against women and how we fail with victims and survivors. I wouldn’t say that inspires me, but I’m really outraged. And my books are a response to the anger I feel about certain issues – I want them to serve as a confrontation to those issues. So I really want readers to end my books with a similar sense of outrage and say, “OK, if this is how the world is, how can I change it?”

I actually think my penchant for dark stories is, strange as it sounds, a reflection of optimism. Because as grim as they are, as desperate as they can sometimes feel, I see them as a love letter to our ability as people to endure and come out of our darkest moments to find something. significant on the other side.