The Incendiaries

THE INCENDIARIES

by R.O. Kwon

 

Nominations: Aspen Words Longlist 2019, Carnegie Longlist 2019, LA Times Finalist 2018

 

Date Read: September 13, 2023

 

Students at a fictional college are recruited by a cult. While Phoebe Lin takes the bait, Will Kendall rejects it and in the process, loses Phoebe, the love of his life. Will has been down that road before, practicing devout Christianity and ultimately realizing that God was just a fiction, an idea created for comfort. Although he goes through the motions of joining Jejah, his main purpose is to try to get Phoebe out.

 

Will has nothing. He comes from a mentally ill mother without a cent to her name. Will does his best to offer her supplemental income as he can, but he’s also paying his way through college. He meets Phoebe at a party and they instantly feel a connection. As their connection grows, they move in together and their lives seem happy.

 

When Will goes to Beijing for an internship, however, he realizes Phoebe is spending a lot of time with John Leal, the leader of Jejah. His teachings are based off Christianity and then practiced to the extreme – including physical punishment for sins, protesting abortion clinics, confessing your transgressions to the group.

 

As Leal’s influence and sway over Phoebe grows, she moves further and further away from Will until she moves out after he technically rapes her. The next he sees of Phoebe is when she’s on the front page of the newspaper for bombing an abortion clinic that killed four cheerleaders practicing in the parking lot.

 

A bystander said he saw a woman fitting her description jumping from a bridge, but Will is never quite sure if she killed herself or if the bridge was a stunt to distract from where she might really be hiding. 

 

I really enjoyed this novel. Kwon’s writing is fresh and unique; her characters are opaque and left me wanting to know more about them. Critics have argued that Will is the majority narrator and the least interesting character, however, he is not the sole narrator. I appreciated the perspective of each character. The cherry on top was the exploration of faith and religious doctrine. All in all, a great read.

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