The Colony of Lost Souls

By Kelsey James

Book Overview

A young woman searching for her missing sister in 1930s California is drawn into a dark and dangerous cult in this intoxicating binge of sacrifice and obsession, strange rituals, alluring promises, and a beautiful prison for readers of Silvia Moreno Garcia, Nicola Harrison, Laura Purcell, California Golden by Melanie Benjamin, and Emma Cline's The Girls. Born a year apart, May and June Anderson were once as close as twins. Time and a loveless marriage changed the once vibrant May into June's timid counterpart. Now, two years after June abruptly disappeared, May receives a letter from her sister, inviting her to visit a mysterious colony in southern California. Eager to match June's boldness for once, May doesn't hesitate. The Colony is located in a magnificent Spanish Revival-style mansion perched on a bluff overlooking the Pacific, and is presided over by the group's charismatic leader, Rex. Colony members believe in an afterlife where departed souls mingle, and that the truly enlightened can even summon back the spirits of lost loved ones. May is told that June has recently left on a mission, and she's intrigued enough to accept Rex's invitation to stay until her sister's return. Drawn deeper into the group, and under Rex's seductive spell, May undergoes their initiation ceremony. Yet her questions grow more urgent with June's continued absence-and the warnings of a presumptuous but charming undercover investigator. May has longed for the daring, adventurous life her sister pursued, but her arrival has sparked a dangerous unraveling within the Colony, where nothing and no one is quite as it seems. Gripping and atmospheric, The Colony of Lost Souls immerses readers in a world of secrets, deception, and unexpected redemption.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1496742958
• ISBN13: 9781496742957
• Release Date: June 2025
• Publisher: John Scognamiglio Book
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful and Heartbreaking

This was a heartbreaking yet also a soul searching story of two sisters with a strong bond, May and June, in the times where women have fewer rights and choices but both are strong in their own way when they find what is most important to them. It is also about the insidiousness of cults and how they prey on the vulnerable for power, money, and the chance to experiment or create "miracles". May's search for June and her discoveries at the Colony in Southern California were fascinating (with how the miracles and cures were portrayed) as it seemed at first like a haven for artists and freethinkers. The slow reveal of the rotten core made this so heartbreaking as May finds out the truth and must make the hard choice of what to do. That and the viewpoint of June in the previous months before May arrives at the Colony weave a wonderfully tragic yet with hope in the end story. The narrator did a wonderful job in bringing the characters, the time period, and the Colony to life and the audiobook was well done.