Somewhere Past The End by Alexandria Faulkenbury

Somewhere Past the End is the debut novel byAlexandria Faulkenbury. Set in a fictional upstate town in New York, the story is told through the dual POV of Theresa and Alice, mother and daughter respectively. The chapters alternate between the two characters, allowing readers to see the story from both perspectives.

Theresa's chapters take the reader through the how and why she and her husband became involved with The Collective, a religious cult. As a young couple who were rejected by Theresa's family because of her out-of-wedlock pregnancy, the promise of a found family who offers emotional and monetary support made it easy for Richmond and his followers to ingratiate themselves with Theresa and her husband. As the story unfolds, members eventually come to live together in a commune led by their leader, Richmond, who at times was compassionate, cruel, egotistical, manipulative and controlling. As the power goes to his head, Theresa and her husband try to figure out how to protect their family.

Alice's chapters begin with the Homecoming, an event where all but a handful of members were "taken home" to God. Edwin, Alice's best friend from childhood, tells the remaining people that their leader left them a note declaring he and Alice are to lead them to the next Homecoming, which is in two months time. Alice, whose parents and her husband have been "taken" and is pregnant with a baby that she and her husband were not given permission to have, is shocked by the pronouncement and wants nothing to do with this. In fact, she and her husband were planning to escape while everyone was gathered together in the field to "go home."

Alice resists Edwin’s attempts to convince her to participate and, during the course of the police investigation into the mass disappearance, befriends one of the local police detectives and his wife, a retired labor-and-delivery nurse.

Clearly, Teresa and Alice represent two contrasting views on life within the Collective. Teresa was drawn to the community in search of love, security, and belonging. Alice, having grown up within it, wants to be free and independent. Although they each came into the group differently and had their own uniques experiences, both women search for the same things: family, love, and a place where they belong. Their storylines demonstrate how the same environment can shape two generations in very different ways.

There is no clear answer to what happened to the group of people in the field which may frustrate some readers. If the reader is looking for that mystery to be tied up at the end, they will be disappointed. The novel is not a thriller and the answer to the group's disappearance is not the point of the story. Ms. Faulkenbury wrote a story that highlights the insidious corrosive sway a cult in the guise of religion weaves its way through the community and takes over peoples' thinking and every day life. Through the character of Alice she shows how a person born into such a group is programmed their whole life to think and believe a certain way and then wade through the struggle to decide to walk away.

Somewhere Past the End includes themes of what makes a family, the long-term consequences of decisions, faith and how it impacts identity, communities and the influence they have over individual choices. The novel exemplifies what it takes to survive an environment built on fear, control, and isolation.

Overall, Somewhere Past the End is a thought-provoking story that made me think about how easily our beliefs can shape who we become—and what happens when those beliefs are challenged. With its themes of faith, identity, and survival, it offers plenty to think about. I would recommend it to readers who enjoy stories that involve cults, that challenge you to question what you believe, and where you find hope when everything changes.