The Girl from Jonestown by Sharon Maas

It's my turn on the blog tour for Sharon Maas's amazing, compelling new book, The Girl from Jonestown.  This is the publishers' description of the story:

The woman looked at me, anguish brimming in her eyes. I picked up the note she’d left and read the scrawl: HELP!!! Then: Mom. Followed by a number.

A gripping and heartbreaking read, based on the true story of the Jonestown cult, one of the darkest chapters in American history.

When journalist Zoe Quint loses her husband and child in a tragic accident, she returns home to Guyana to heal. But when she hears cries and music floating through the trees, her curiosity compels her to learn more about the Americans who have set up camp in a run-down village nearby. Their leader, Jim Jones, dark eyed and charismatic, claims to be a peaceful man who has promised his followers paradise.

But everything changes when Zoe meets one of his followers, a young woman called Lucy, in a ramshackle grocery store. Lucy grabs Zoe’s arm, raw terror in her eyes, and passes her a note with a phone number, begging her to call her mother in America.

Zoe is determined to help Lucy, but locals warn her to stay away from the camp, and as sirens and gunshots echo through the jungle at nightfall, she knows they are right. But she can’t shake the frightened woman’s face from her mind, and when she discovers that there are young children kept in the camp, she has to act fast.

Zoe’s only route to the lost people is to get close to their leader, Jim Jones. But if she is accepted, will she be able to persuade the frightened followers to risk their lives and embark on a perilous escape under the cover of darkness? And when Jim Jones hears of her plans, could she pay the highest price of all?

A powerful and unputdownable novel inspired by the true story of Jonestown, about a woman’s brave attempt to save people who were promised paradise but found only lies. Fans of Where the Crawdads Sing, Before We Were Yours and The Girls will be captivated by The Girl from Jonestown.So, what did I think?  I really enjoyed this book and found it an informative read.  I recall that I once worked with a woman from Guyana and had never bothered to look the country up on the map, but now I discovered that it is on the Caribbean shore of South America.  The descriptions of the location are colourful and evocative so that reading conveyed a strong and vivid sense of place.  The main character, Zoe Quint, has returned home after a period of world travel to escape a personal tragedy, so she sees her homeland with fresh eyes.  The secretive new settlement of Jonestown, deep in the jungle, is the subject of local conjecture and fascination.  When Zoe meets one of its members while shopping in town, her interest is piqued, especially as the woman attempts to communicate with her and it appears that she is not a willing participant.  This woman clearly feels that not all in the community can be trusted, and Zoe has to discover who she can trust, as well as how she can help.The Jamestown Massacre is well documented, and this is a fascinating fictionalised story based on what happened there.  It is historic, but also a thriller, and a very human tale.  Zoe puts herself in danger when she uses her status as a renowned freelance journalist to gain access to this community.  There's suspense aplenty and the pace is well maintained.  The Girl from Jonestown is an interesting and exciting story which I very much enjoyed.

Sharon Maas was born to politically active parents in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1951. She was educated in England, Guyana, and, later, Germany. After leaving school, she worked as a reporter with the Guyana Graphic in Georgetown and later wrote feature articles for the Sunday Chronicle as a staff journalist. Sharon has always had a great sense of adventure and curiosity about the world we live in, and Guyana could not hold her for long. In 1971 she set off on a year-long backpacking trip around South America, followed by an overland trek to South India, where she spent two years in an ashram. She lived in Germany for forty-three years and now lives in Ireland. She is the author of The Violin Maker’s Daughter, The Soldier’s Girl, Her Darkest Hour and many other novels.