Author interview: Sarah Gailey on Make Me Better, cults, belonging, and healing

In today’s author interview, Sarah Gailey discusses the inspiration behind Make Me Better, including the novel’s themes of identity, belonging, cult psychology, climate anxiety, and the complicated pursuit of healing. In my recent review, I described the novel as an unsettling blend of literary fiction, psychological suspense, and horror that asks difficult questions about what people are willing to sacrifice for connection and certainty.

I had the opportunity to ask Gailey about the creation of Kindred Cove, the challenges of writing Celia’s emotional vulnerability, the appeal of high-control communities, and the literary influences that helped shape their work. We also discussed why stories about cults resonate so strongly today and what Gailey hopes readers will take away from the novel’s exploration of wellness culture, manipulation, and transformation.

Read on for Sarah Gailey’s thoughtful insights into the ideas that shaped Make Me Better and the questions the novel invites readers to ask long after they’ve turned the final page.

Q: You have written extensively about identity, transformation, and belonging. What drew you to exploring those themes through the lens of an isolated community like Kindred Cove?
A: Someone who is much smarter than I am told me once that all true healing happens in relationship. I’ve found that to be true, at least in my own life. As an individual, I can change my thinking – but changing patterns and core beliefs only happens when I bring that thought into contact with other people in the world. I’ve found this to be true of a lot of injury as well – that I can feel a lot of feelings on my own, but deep change only happens through and in relationships. So when I decided it was time to write this book, which is so focused on identity and transformation, I knew I needed to anchor it in the kinds of close, inescapable relationships that form in isolated communities.

Q: Were there any early literary influences that helped shape the kinds of stories you wanted to tell? Are there particular authors or books that stayed with you as you developed your voice as a writer?
A: Clive Barker, Garth Nix, and Gloria Naylor are probably my biggest influences. These are the authors whose work I return to over and over again to look for the edges of what I think prose can accomplish. I don’t know that I would have recognized their influence on my narrative instincts, but whenever I come back to their work, I see the DNA of my writing – a nose here, a chin there.

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Q: Celia is a fascinating protagonist because her vulnerability comes from such a relatable desire—to feel loved and chosen. What was the biggest challenge in writing a character who is both sympathetic and, at times, frustratingly self-destructive?
A: Celia was shockingly easy to write. All I had to do was be bleedingly honest about her. The hardest part was screening that honesty to make sure she’d stay legible to readers who are afraid to admit things. People tend to fear earnest confession of things they think they shouldn’t feel, and they hide that fear behind judgment – I knew, while I was writing, that a certain stripe of reader would describe Celia as unsympathetic or annoying. Keeping that knowledge from informing my process was really hard.

Q: Kindred Cove offers its residents certainty, connection, and purpose, but at a tremendous cost. Were there any real-world communities, ideologies, or social dynamics that influenced the creation of the Cove?
A: When I created Kindred Cove, I intentionally did not study specific groups or communities. Instead, I studied attachment systems in communities, the language and dynamics of manipulation, and the structure of interpersonal control. The social dynamics of high-control communities are extremely specific, and will read as quite familiar to many people who have never thought of themselves as participants in a “cult”.

Q: The environmental changes surrounding the island create a quiet but constant sense of unease throughout the novel. How important was climate anxiety to the emotional atmosphere of the story?
A: Extremely important! This novel takes place about ten seconds into the future, in a world that is changing exactly as quickly as our own. This was very intentional. I wanted the reader to look outside their own window and feel the pull of a controlling community. Many of the people I’ve been speaking with as I travel are feeling that pull right now, as so many of them are pummelled by punishing heat waves. Wouldn’t it be a relief to find a place that said it had the solution to this ongoing, global disaster?

Q: One of the most compelling aspects of the novel is how seductive the Cove feels, even when readers recognize the danger. Why do you think people are so drawn to stories about cults and closed communities right now?
A: Because we want to be in them! The allure of a cult is powerful – it promises a family-like social structure among people who all believe the same things, want the same future, and are willing to work together to pursue their goals. Everywhere I go right now, talking about this book, people say the same thing: “I kind of wish I could join something like this.” We long for connection and stability. At the same time, we are hungry to be reminded of the reasons we can’t have those things as easily as cults promise them. Narratives about the dangers of controlling communities deliver both the appeal and the warning.

Q: The concept of “healing” is central to the novel, but the characters often use it as a justification for harmful behavior. What conversations were you hoping readers might have about wellness culture, self-improvement, or emotional vulnerability after reading the book?
A: This is the primary axis of reflection I hope to invite readers into. We pursue the idea of self-improvement in an effort to escape pain, suffering, and grief – often to the detriment of our own happiness and humanity. I hope readers will look at invitations to optimize themselves differently after reading Make Me Better. I hope they will start asking: Am I being invited into a better life? Or am I being told that the person I am is unworthy of care?

Q: The book leaves readers questioning whether the outside world is truly worse than the Cove—or just differently broken. Was that ambiguity intentional from the beginning?
A: Absolutely. This is how cults draw people in to begin with – by recognizing the pain people are in. Suffering is a universal part of the human condition, and many of us try to ignore it on a day-to-day level, in order to function. This creates a major axis of vulnerability. The moment our long-denied pain is acknowledged, we experience a degree of relief that feels like unprecedented care. By inviting the reader to acknowledge the pain that is inflicted daily by the world, I hoped to open them up to that vulnerability – and eventually help them recognize and tend to it in safer, healthier ways.

Author Bio

Sarah Gailey is a Hugo Award and British Fantasy Award winning, bestselling author of speculative fiction, short stories, and essays. Their nonfiction has been published by dozens of venues internationally. Their fiction has been translated around the world. They have written comics for Marvel, EC, and BOOM! Studios, including multiple original series. They are the editor and publisher of Stone Soup and Love Letters: Reasons To Be Alive.

Connect with the author

• Author website
• Instagram: @gaileyfrey
• BlueSky: @sarahgailey

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