When She Returned

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars | 57,857 ratings

Price: 4.99

Last update: 12-22-2024


About this item

One woman’s reappearance throws her family into turmoil, exposing dark secrets and the hidden, often devastating truth of family relationships.

Kate Bennett vanished from a parking lot eleven years ago, leaving behind her husband and young daughter. When she shows up at a Montana gas station, clutching an infant and screaming for help, investigators believe she may have been abducted by a cult.

Kate’s return flips her family’s world upside down—her husband is remarried, and her daughter barely remembers her. Kate herself doesn’t look or act like she did before.

While the family tries to help Kate reintegrate into society, they discover truths they’ve been hiding from each other about their own relationships. But they aren’t the only ones with secrets. As the family unravels what happened to Kate, a series of shocking revelations shows that Kate’s return is more sinister than any of them could have imagined.


Top reviews from the United States

Wendy Nelson
5.0 out of 5 stars Twist within a twist
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2024
This book gives the reader a look into the life of a woman in a cult. I love all Lucinda Berry books. This one was no different. It is an easy read that you can finish in a day or two. Making it perfect for a weekend read.
GGmom
4.0 out of 5 stars wild ride
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2024
This book was pretty good. The writing of the characters was a little “goody goody” in a way. Perfect 16 yr old daughter who doesn’t do anything wrong, good father who is super loving & caring and thoughtful and the newer wife Meredith who was incredibly patient, supportive, loving and kind even after she gets pushed aside. That was really my only complaint. It was too Leave It To Beaver feeling. Not as realistic. Especially for Meredith. What happened to the first wife, Kate is a little more believable. Kate escaped the cult Love International that she had been a disciple of for 11 years. She left her husband Scott - whose she’s known since she was 9 yrs old, and her daughter who was only 5. She was a journalist getting back into the swing of working again. One day she was requested by Love International to do a story on them to prove they were an asset to the small CA community and not a cult poaching college students to do their bidding. When she first arrives at their building to interview the head guy Ray, she is somewhat nervous. Ray can sense that and immediately turns the interview around on her leaving her with little to no info for an article. He invites her to attend one of their worship days and she is impressed. There were members of all backgrounds and she felt empowered by the preaching Ray did. She then meets him on a regular basis and begins going away on their weekend prayer excursion’s. She asks her husband to attend as families are welcome but he is not interested. She is beginning to feel differently, more detached from her husband and daughter and regular life and begins to believe she is meant for a higher spiritual purpose. One day she’s there the next she’s gone, only to return 11 years later looking nothing like the woman her family recognized and with a newborn baby. She’s kept in the hospital as she’s extremely malnourished as is the baby. The hard part is they bring her back to live in the house that was once hers but is now Meredith’s. She stays in the guest room. Mind you she doesn’t seem at all interested in Scott. No love lost there for her. Meredith is the only one not emotionally attached to Kate so she can notice things that the others can’t. She tries so hard to get Kate to be comfortable with her, she helps in any way she can only to go completely unnoticed by her husband. She’s beginning to believe she should leave Scott and her stepdaughter so they can resume life with Kate. However, Kate never seems interested her old life, she’s only interested in her daughter Abbie. Abbie loves having her mom back and creating a bond with her. The thing is, her mom may have fled the cult but the cult didn’t flee her. She gets caught making sneaky phone calls in the middle of the night but won’t say to whom. Meredith tries to tell her husband what she caught Kate doing but he blows off Meredith’s suspicions thinking she’s being too controlling of “poor Kate”. Who would a person whose been in a cult in the backwoods somewhere be calling?? What Kate went through to be brainwashed was disturbing to say the least. It truly reminded me of the masses of people today who are obsessed with identity politics and protesting causes that have nothing to do with their lives. At any rate this book kept me interested. Wish the end would’ve been more it felt undone. One more chapter of an update, especially of the cult leader and Kate would’ve been satisfying.
Kate M
5.0 out of 5 stars Intense
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2024
Not my normal genre. Author grabbed reader's attention immediately in the very beginning. Plenty of twists and turns throughout til end. Main characters Abbi, Scott Kate and Meredith along with Ray and Dean were well described with well hidden secrets.
Nancy Adams
3.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing story, but failed to reach its full potential
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2024
Spoiler Alert: Although I have read every day for years, this is the first time I have reviewed a book. I think that speaks to the power of this story. Not only was this story well-written and developed, which made it engrossing, but it also taught me about cults and their powers over their members. Had Scott, Meredith and especially Abbi been able to read Kate’s experiences in being targeted, brainwashed and isolated from society like I was, I think we would have had a very different ending, which I felt was necessary for this book to be a success. The family put Abbi in a very dangerous situation without Kate being properly treated and deprogrammed. Maybe the result that the family had to isolate themselves from Kate for their safety until she could be rehabilitated would have been the same, but the anger, disgust and penal outcome would not have been the same. The outcome in the book could be the very reason most cult members stay—fear of not being safe and protected outside the cult. Would we expect a drug addict to have a few weeks of police questioning and discussions to make him break his drug habits and begin functioning wisely and safely again? Of course not. Kate took a tremendous risk breaking free and did not get what she needed from society. What she did to Abby at 5 and 16 “voluntarily” was horrendous, but should she have been vilified by society and her family without the understanding and help she needed? Sadly, I think this book fails to adequately answer the overriding thematic question: Was Kate as much a victim as her husband and daughter? And if so, how do we treat those victims?
Vanessa Copetas
4.0 out of 5 stars WHAT
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2024
ohhhhhh my god. never had a book made me so angry!!!!! i need to talk about this with someone! i couldn’t put it down and twists kept me going. i cannot even put it into words but this author is so incredibly talented with the way she draws you in. this book specifically keeps you wanting to read more and makes you sympathize with each character for different reasons. i’m angry but also intrigued and wish there was some sort of follow up! definitely interesting and unlike anything i’ve ever read before. highly recommend!
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Frankly a great read
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2024
Ok i will start this off by saying I do not recommend listening to this book. The narrator skipped words and even whole sentences. It was very irritating.
But when I read the book I was very interested even my 13 year old son was interested in this book.
The twists were kind of predictable but still a good book
Sarah
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute mastery!
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2024
I enjoyed everything about this book!! Such an amazing storyline and plot twist!
I’m happy I picked it up and sad I had to put it down.
Kat Johnson
4.0 out of 5 stars Did not see that coming…
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2024
Kate and Scott, married couple with their daughter Abbi. One day, Kate goes missing, and everyone is searching for her. Of course they suspect the husband, but they find that he’s not at fault, and they rule her dead after so long. Scott remarries, and then one day, they get a call that Kate has returned, and she has a baby. This story was crazy! I loved how Lucinda takes you through everyone’s pov, throughout the story. Reading Kate’s side was interesting. How some people can be so manipulated. The ending was a good twist.

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