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