Helen Zuman

Amazing first-person account of life within a cult/commune. Not all communes are cults of course, and the author makes very clear why she views Zendik Farm to have been a cult experience.

A recent Harvard graduate in the late 1990s, Helen receives a grant to study communal life, and ends up visiting a number of communes. One of the communes - Zendik Farm - resonated strongly with her and she decided to stay and become part of their community.

Her description of life in the commune seems very even-handed. Nothing was all good or all bad, and she describes her personal conflict before, during and after leaving the commune.

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