Granta 137

When does a movement become a cult? In this issue we focus on faith, on the appeal of surrendering oneself to a higher power, of becoming a follower. What's the difference between conviction, groupthink and madness?
Inside:
Miriam Toews, Matilda Gustavsson, Ken Follett and Lauren Hough on growing up in sects
Emmanuel Carrère and Darcy Padilla
New fiction from John Connell, Luke Kennard, Adam Thorpe and Padma Viswanathan
The diary of Ivan Chistyakov, a Gulag prison guard
Aatish Taseer meets the Brahmins of Varanasi