I ended up not finishing this one, it just wasn't for me, thanks anyway for taking the time to accept my request.

A darkly fascinating tale of religious zealotry, suspicion and power. This novel heavily embellishes a sordid history but is beautifully written and a gripping read.

The Rapture is a really intriguing book. Not necessarily fast-paced or dynamic, but it was so interesting to learn about this cult that resided in Bedford one hundred years ago. I’d never heard of it before, so this novel was really eye-opening.

This book explores a big vision; a largely female religious cult that challenges some of Christianity's biggest concepts. It's a fantastic hook, but wrought with an exceptionally British tone.

Dillys, our protagonist, is living within the Panacea Society and serves a prophet known as Octavia, but when she welcomes new recruit Grace, into the fold, she finds the principles she has lived by challenged by the proximity of her friendship with Grace. During preparations for the second coming of Christ, Dilys becomes skeptical of Octavia's prophetic visions and fears manipulation of her leader and the society.

The archetypal British setting of this novel is nostalgically identifiable, with an the intimate, middle England feel. Religious iconography and the interior spaces of worship were given an interesting overhaul., and a specifically female one at that.

The Rapture asks some interesting questions about the gender divide in institutional religion. The prophet is female, yet there is still a clear hierarchy amongst the women who live and work for her. The process of preaching, praying, and healing is traditionally feminine, whereas domestic tasks, so often overlooked in a wider historical context, are given precedence as integral pillars within a 'new' Christian community. However, the 'rules' imposed on Octavia's followers are oppressive and encourage neutrality, which uncovers issues to do with personal identity and how that may be at odds with a collective identity.

The fallibility of humans and the consequences of raising one to a God-like status forms the overarching arc of the novel.

Sometimes, when the word 'cult' is mentioned in a synopsis, something sensationalist, passionate, and erratic comes to mind. This book explores a different kind of cult. The characters are written with a sharp and particular turn of phrase. Their interactions are quietly powerful. The setting is thoughtful, pleasant, and practical, but beneath the surface lies a spectrum of human decrepitude.

Clare McGlasson has written about delicate religious ideas within the familiar upholstery of an English household. Whether such a place can cope with such multitudes is the question.that drives the novel forward.

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this book which I was disappointed in as I really wanted to. I felt that there was not enough insight into each character to understand their journey properly. It wasn’t that it was written badly I just didn’t enjoy it.

So, this book has a truly fascinating real-life backstory: In 1919, Mabel Barltrop (aka Octavia) founded the Panacea Society, a religious group of mainly older, widowed middle-class women who believed that Octavia was the eighth prophet and daughter of God. The society’s base is in Bedford, in Octavia’s home in fact – group members would buy up the surrounding property so they could all live together. The timing had a lot to do with the group’s popularity, many of these women had lost loved ones to the war, so now needed something, anything to give them hope again and Octavia did that. She was convinced God spoke to her and gave her messages – this may be a good time to mention that prior to her conversion into the Daughter of God she spent time in a psychiatric hospital and knew a thing or two about organised religion, having been married to a Vicar. It’s just such a fascinating situation; this women’s claims were not only unchallenged but they were confirmed by the founding of the society, the 50+ women (and a few men) that lived in Bedford and 2,000 additional members across the world.

The Rapture is a fictitious account of the society, told from the point of view of Octavia’s 25-year old daughter, Dilys (a member of the society IRL.) Being Octavia’s daughter, she states, ‘I didn’t choose this life. It choose me.’ She is conflicted and her internal struggle is brilliantly written: ‘She might start to wonder if I am like Octavia. And I am not. She hears the voice of God but only the Devil takes the time to whisper in my ear.’ When new recruit, Grace, joins the society, she makes Dilys think about her situation even more and that’s when the action ramps up.

As well as an engrossing story, I really enjoyed the overall tone of The Rapture too, it has a subtle deadpan quality that sneaks in and made me smile: “This is the Garden of Eden. Hidden in plain sight. It was here in Bedford all along.” Also see: ‘She has furnished the inside with every comfort befitting ladies of our station: wicker chairs, pot plants and an air of middle-class judgement.’

This is Claire McGlasson’s debut novel and I love her blending of fact and fiction (sections of the book are real text and quotes from the society) as well as her wonderful characterisation. I interpreted the ending as completely ambiguous and a touch sinister, but the writing is such that you can do that and that’s something I admire so much.

In 1920's Bedford, young Dilys Baltrop lives at nr 12 Albany Road - an infamous address. This is a home of the leader of the Panacea Society, Octavia, a Messiah and a Daughter of God, who surrounds herself with other women, some wealthy, some not, all committed members of the society, all devoted to the cause - to open Joanna Southcott's box of prophecies in the presence of the Bishops of English Church and prepare themselves for the coming of Jesus. When Dilys befriends Grace, a young woman who decides to join the society, she gains a friend, but she also starts to question the beliefs and teachings of the Panaceans. As her feelings towards Grace grow, her once ordered world is crumbling.

Claire McGlasson weaves fiction and truth in shape of original letters and writings in this slow burning novel about beliefs, secrets and power. Dilys is a character that reader feels for, as she struggles to fit in with the militant ways of the society which she joins really with no say in this matter. She is required to be obedient, devoted, colourless and devoted of any thought. Her awakening makes her however realise the unhappiness of her existence. As she is narrator of the story, as her mind begins to unravel so does her narration. It was a engrossing story, but I must admit that I struggled with the middle part, as it went on very slowly and the details (although fascinating) diligently recorded and described dragged the story.

The most fascinating fact is that the Panacea Society was real - they really thought that the Garden of Eden was in Bedford and that Octavia was a Messiah. Their practices were as bizarre as the book says and the Panacea Trust still exists.

The Rapture
By Claire McGlasson
Published by Faber & Faber
Currently available in hardback & ebook
Paperback is forthcoming

Well, knock me over with a feather because apparently the Garden of Eden was supposedly just up the road (around a bend, twenty minutes in the car, trying to avoid the speed cameras) in Bedford.

Welcome to the Panacea Society, a terribly English cult!

In a town, in England, between the wars, a group of women live in a series of houses, surrounding a garden, keeping guard of a box containing prophecies, waiting for the world to end and for women to be the ones who restore the peace. The breath of their leader, Octavia, is meant to cure any illnesses and bring about miracles. Yet, in this Bedfordshire paradise, jealousy, paranoia, and resentment are bubbling to the surface, ready to curdle the society from within.

The Rapture, Claire McGlasson's incredible and deeply interesting debut novel, is the fictionalised story of the two young recruits who live within the walls of this cult near the Embankment in Bedford, waiting for the rapture to arrive, and save them all. The majority of members are single women, looking for meaning after World War I where their husbands, boyfriends, family were killed but there are a few men lingering on the edges, wanting to be part of this religious group, trying to elbow their way to the front of the queue for the impending rapture.

Dilys Barltrop, a devoted member of the society, starts to uncover secrets and lies which push her to confront her own religious and moral beliefs. Claire McGlasson builds up the tension as Dilys starts to see that there could be more choice if she broke free of the society's ideology. The Rapture not only explores the way people manipulate religion and people for their own good but McGlasson also explores the power struggles between genders, the effects of the mental health during the interwar years and the way it is handled by society.

Dilys recruits Grace, after meeting her on a secret trip to the local church, and their relationship starts to bud as they sneak around other members, trying to hide their friendship as it goes from being platonic to being something they want to keep secret. Dilys is being led towards the light but maybe not the light her fellow members encourage her to look for.

This is a great novel exploring a piece of local history that I didn't know anything about and has inspired me to pop along to the museum (the society is now a charitable trust and allows visitors to see the garden). I was sent an ebook version via Netgalley but the version in the picture is the hardback which I went and purchased half way through reading the ebook as I knew it would make a great gift.

I highly recommend this inspiring book, and I think the rest of you should read it too. The Rapture is available from your favourite bookshop.


I was kindly sent a copy via Netgalley.

My thanks to Faber & Faber for an eARC via NetGalley of Claire McGlasson’s ‘The Rapture’ in exchange for an honest review.

This is a work of fiction based on real events. In 1919 Mabel Barltrop, a vicar’s widow who believes herself to be a messiah, renames herself Octavia, Daughter of God and founds The Panacea Society. She has gathered together a group of followers, mainly women, and established a community in Bedford. Octavia rules with an iron fist and the society has many rules.

The story centres on Dilys, Mabel’s daughter, who at twenty-five is the youngest member of the group by two decades. She feels quite isolated from the other members and doesn’t have the kind of religious experiences that her mother has. One day she meets Grace, a seeker drawn to the secretive Society. Grace’s presence in the community triggers change in Dilys’ life.

This was quite a slow-burn in terms of its plot with emphasis upon characterisation. Being based on a real religious organisation and its members (though Grace was fictional) made for fascinating reading. It certainly emphasised how persuasive a charismatic leader can be.

I found Dilys a very sympathetic character and I wanted the best for her, though clearly she was quite damaged by the manipulation she experienced from a young age.

The Author’s Note provides details of her research, which was clearly meticulous. It certainly stressed the idea that truth can be stranger than fiction. The website of the Panacea Charitable Trust was very interesting to visit and currently the Panacea Museum has an exhibition about Dilys Barltrop and how growing up in the community effected her.

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As soon as I saw the description of this book, I felt myself beginning to be lured in… It tells the story of the Panacea Society, a group of devoted, religious, (mostly) women, who live their lives according to the dedicated principles of the Society and their zealous leader, Octavia. The Society believe that salvation for humanity is coming – it will be brought by women, channelled through Octavia, the Daughter of God. Even more intriguing, I then realised that the Panacea Society this story is based on was a real English cult, founded in 1919. Curiouser and curiouser! By the time I picked the book up, I was so intrigued to peek behind the curtain and discover more about these remarkable women.

Our protagonist is Dilys, who is one of the youngest members of the Panacea Society. Dilys strikes a friendship with Grace, a woman she meets at church, and Grace soon comes to visit the institution’s base in Bedford (which the members believe to be the original Garden of Eden). As Grace learns more about the peculiar world of the Society, as readers we are initiated along with her, as we too are shown the specific doctrines and conventions that rule the Society. There are peculiar restrictions around decorum (such as not eating too loudly); healing squares of linen infused with the sacred breath of Octavia; revalries which bring forth the words of God…the unsettling truths are revealed slowly, and my unease began to grow and grow as a fuller picture of this world appeared before me. Dilys is very much at the centre of this fascinating world, as she attempts to navigate both the increasing votilaty of the society and her growing connection to Grace.

McGlasson’s writing is simply sublime, creating an atmosphere that I felt so entirely, and almost physically. The mood of this novel will stay with me for a very long time; I felt a number of things all at once – intrigue, fear, deep empathy, suspicion, a sadness I couldn’t shake. There is an ember glowing at the heart of this book, that flickers, and slowly grows – constantly threatening to engulf everything, but also bringing a warmth – like the hope of salvation that the members of the Panacea Society hold onto.

I was also struck by the sensitively with which McGlasson told these women’s stories. It was apparent that she had consulted historical documents and the recorded truth with a lot of care and attention. Weaving these together into this fictitous narrative, she invites us to view the lives of these women from many lenses: collectively, as individuals; through their personal relations; through their mental states, and also through their time and place in society. Particularly striking for me was the novel’s remarkable reflection on what it means to be a women in a world that has been built by men – women who try to tell their own narrative in a world written by men. As Dilys reflects when viewing a stained glass windows depicting Bunyan’s allegories of heroes and knights: women are not given epic narratives of battles and glory. Their strength comes from endurance, both physical and mental. These are the female narratives that I found here and loved most about this novel.

The strange and unlikely but very real Panacea Society flourished in Bedford, England in the 1920s right up to the death of its last member in 2012 and it’s now a charitable trust and museum. There’s plenty of information about it online for the curious and it’s well worth investigating. Fascinating stuff indeed. This book is a fictionalised account of a period in the Panacea Society’s history. Mabel Barltrop, aka Octavia, considered herself the daughter of God and led a community of mainly middle-class and wealthy women who were subject to her every rule and whim. The “plot” focusses on Dilys, a loyal follower and her friendship with Grace, a new recruit, and the tensions that result, leading to disarray and confusion all round. Although much of the book is firmly based on fact, which can be verified, Grace herself is a fiction and for me this was a problem. Dilys’s relationship with her is so pivotal that to discover it wasn’t real detracted, for me, from the power and interest of the novel. I also found the rather intense tone of the novel, although it reflected Dilys’s state of mind, became somewhat wearying. As a study of faith, madness, friendship and sexuality, however, the novel is a thoughtful and insightful exploration of how people can become deluded and how a manipulative leader can influence his, or in this case her, followers even into absurdity and irrationality. Overall I enjoyed the book but the fictional element didn’t sit comfortably with me, especially as it concerns the inner and very troubled world of a very real woman.

An interesting story for sure (as they say, truth is stranger than any fiction) but I kept having to force myself to pick it up & struggle through. It was such a slow burner that I often felt as though I was wading through thick mud, trying to crack on with it.

This novel is about the Panacea Society, a UK-based millennial cult led by ‘Octavia’ aka Mabel Barltrop (1866-1934).

Set in Bedford during 1920s, this is the story of Dilys, a member of the Society and a rather unreliable narrator. We follow her journey as her doubts and concerns are dismissed and she is eventually actively suppressed by the Society’s inner circle.

Including PoVs from other members of the Society to add additional narrative layers to the story would have been very interesting.

A great subject for a debut novel.

The concept of this book was fascinating. It's about life in a religious cult led by women. It's coming from a real society set in Bedford, England. It made me research it with curiosity for sure, which I love about books. They bring you different worlds :)
The start was very good, I couldn't turn the pages faster. The dynamics between the leader of the cult, and its submissive members was really interesting to read about.
The Panacea society is the most fascinating part of the book. It was quite creepy and harrowing to think about how they lived like that.
I liked the writing, but I thought the pacing went down a lot around the second half. If it was better paced, it would be perfect.

Thanks a lot Netgalley and the publisher for granting this copy in exchange for an honest review.

The start was amazing and I was fascinated by the concept of this book; a religious cult led by a woman, containing mostly single women. The determined, strict, secretive leader Octavia; quiet, submissive Dilys and her mysterious bond with the Panacea society(as the story developed you figure out why Dilys sticks with them despite being a misfit on the surface).
But I really struggled with the pace of this book. After 30%, I had to motivate myself to pick it up. Don't get me wrong, I would still read it but it just was a bit slow. I think it's a creepy, tense read, if only it had a faster pace!
The Panacea society is the most amazing aspect of the book. Their rules, the pressure of the members to each other and from Octavia, all that bullshit brought by fanaticism and seeking to join a cult just for the sake of "fitting in" is raw and so harrowing.

The Rapture by Claire McGlasson is a novel about a real life religious cult. Set in Bedford after World War One it tells the story of The Panacea Society.

Loved this - set in Bedford after WW1 it tells the story of The Panacea Society - which really did/does exist.

I am always fascinated by sects/religions; do the leaders really believe all that they are preaching or are they doing it for their own gain? Other books I have enjoyed in this vein are The Sixth Wife and The Marrying of Chani Kaufman.

If you enjoy a post WW1 with a hint of madness Anna Hope's The Ballroom is a good read. Anyway back to 'The Rapture' - for me there was a perfect mix of story, fact, history and mystery. I don't want to spoil it - so I won't - but the end still left enough hanging to keep my mind busy. Brilliant.

I love historical fiction and I love finding out about new strange tales. This one ticks all the books. A fictional account of the Panacea Society who were an all women cult, created by Octavia after WW1. The women believed that the second coming was nigh and the opening of a sealed box would solve all the problems of the world.
McGlasson masterfully weaves together domesticity with sincere tension and shows us just how fine the lie between hope and despair really is. Does the society really have the answer to the world problems, can they bring peace of is it just a power play preying on the vulnerable and needy.
Bringing a little known story to life this book is a reminiscent of Winterson's' Oranges are not the only fruit' in its portrayal of how far some people will go for power and answers.
One to make you think!

I understand that the 'English-ness' of this book is it's selling point, but it's so deathly boring that eventually, you start wondering whether the English people are just all very dull. I'm one of them and I like to think that's not true.
The idea of the book itself is brilliant: a woman thinks she's the Messiah and now there's a whole cult built up around it. It's amazingly ridiculous! But the book doesn't deliver on this premise, and the writing fails to ever really get off of the ground. You feel as though you're simply watching from the sidelines as something might happen, but never does.

How does that old saying go, 'Real life is stranger than fiction'? Well that is certainly true of this book. Although the author has fictionalised the story a little, the events and characters are mostly real. In Bedford, England, the Panacea Society was a very real religious organisation of mostly women. The Society was headed by Octavia, a woman who believed she was the actual daughter of God and would herald the return of Jesus Christ.

Fascinating and disturbing in equal parts, this is a fantastically researched insight in to a little known piece of British history and an excellent debut by Claire McGlasson. I look forward to seeing what this author comes up with next..