Beautiful Revolutionary

by Laura Elizabeth Woollett

Overview

The thrilling new novel, inspired by Jim Jones’s Peoples Temple, from the author of The Love of a Bad Man.

It’s the summer of 1968, and Evelyn Lynden is a woman at war with herself. Minister’s daughter. Atheist. Independent woman. Frustrated wife. Bitch with a bleeding heart.

Following her conscientious-objector husband Lenny to the rural Eden of Evergreen Valley, California, Evelyn wants to be happy with their new life. Yet as the world is rocked by warfare and political assassinations, by racial discrimination and social upheaval, she finds herself disillusioned with Lenny’s passive ways — and anxious for a saviour.

Enter the Reverend Jim Jones, the dynamic leader of a revolutionary church called Peoples Temple. As Evelyn grows closer to Jones, her marriage is just the first casualty of his rise to power.

Meticulously researched, elegantly written, and utterly engrossing, Beautiful Revolutionary explores the allure of the real-life charismatic leader who would destroy so many. In masterful prose, Woollett painstakingly examines what happens when Evelyn is pulled into Jones’s orbit — an orbit it would prove impossible for her to leave.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781925548952
Publisher:	Scribe Publications Pty Ltd
Publication date:	07/30/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	590 KB

About the Author

Laura Elizabeth Woollett is the author of a short story collection, The Love of a Bad Man (Scribe, 2016), and two novels, Beautiful Revolutionary (Scribe, 2018) and The Newcomer (Scribe, 2021). The Love of a Bad Man was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction. Beautiful Revolutionary was shortlisted for the 2019 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal, and the Kathleen Mitchell Award. Laura was the City of Melbourne’s 2020 Boyd Garret writer-in-residence and a 2020-22 Marten Bequest scholar for prose.

Reading Group Guide

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

1. ‘Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ Does this statement apply to the leaders of Peoples Temple?
2. Consider the relationship between sex and power within Peoples Temple. Are the characters bound by traditional gender expectations, or do they subvert them? Both?
3. There are several different perspectives within the novel (Evelyn, Lenny, Luce, Rosaline, the Children of the Revolution, Sally-Ann). How did these differing perspectives influence your feelings about the characters and their actions?
4. Beautiful Revolutionary takes place over a ten-year period (1968 – 1978). However, there are several time jumps within the book. What effect did these jumps in time have on you, as a reader?
5. Evelyn and Lenny are both children of the postwar baby boom. Does this make them more receptive to Peoples Temple (and similar movements) than previous or later generations might be?
6. Though Evelyn and Lenny join Peoples Temple at the same time, they occupy different places within the Temple’s hierarchy. Discuss the way their fates diverge and intersect throughout the novel.
7. What did you make of the contradictions between Peoples Temple’s egalitarian message, and the reality of life in the Temple (e.g., white leadership, shaming men for ‘latent homosexuality’)? Were the Temple members hypocrites, blind to their own prejudices, afraid of Jim Jones, or something else?
8. Evelyn and Luce are both drawn to Peoples Temple, in part, because of their sexual attraction to Jim Jones. What else do these characters have in common?
9. Toward the end of the novel, Rosaline reflects, ‘She doesn’t like or understand Eve any more than she did that day [ten years ago].’ Is this accurate? Does an understanding exist between Rosaline and Evelyn?
10. Evelyn has several romantic relationships throughout the novel. What does her relationship with Jim Jones offer her that others (Jean-Claude, Lenny, Phil) do not?
    Despite inhabiting a communal environment, Evelyn remains an isolated character. To what extent is her isolation self-imposed?
11. What do the words ‘beautiful’ and ‘revolutionary’ mean, in the context of the novel?
12. Did your interpretation of these words change, in light of the fate of Peoples Temple and its members?

Editorial Reviews

[T]raverses the uneasy terrain between historical fiction and all that cannot be known about the inner lives of real people. History blends with mythology…[D]evastating…Weighty and disquieting.”
—Kirkus

“Woollett is considered Australia's foremost expert on Jonestown, and her novel is a riveting tale of love, obsession and devotion. If you loved The Girls or Netflix's Wild Wild Country, this one's for you.”
—Elle

“Woollett turns a dark chapter in U.S. history into a deeply human, satisfying read for fans of Emma Cline’s The Girls.”
—Booklist

“Woollett has wisely chosen to forgo the fetishism of death and Jim Jones that is so often the focus of this tragedy. With Beautiful Revolutionary, Woollett has created an utterly intoxicating portrait of the lives of those seeking to build something new in a world that seemed to be losing its mind. Although we know what awaits us, Woollett masterfully weaves a suspenseful and complex story about people—of their dreams, beliefs, ideals, and lives all coming to a horrific end—in a way that is uniquely hers. Woollett is electric.”
—Sarah Schmidt, author of See What I Have Done

“Laura Woollett’s imaginative retelling of the Jonestown tragedy does what only fiction can do—endows Jim Jones and his inner circle with a sense of humanity. She formulates answers to unknowable questions—how could otherwise sane people be pulled into Jones’s web of evil? What happened that last, tragic day? A lyrical and sharply rendered tale of innocence lost and ideals betrayed.”
—Julia Scheeres, author of A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown

“Beautiful Revolutionary is some of the most exciting fiction I’ve encountered. It fearlessly explores the human elements that attracted masses to the Peoples Temple and to Jim Jones—fear, lust, the need to be loved, and the urge to feel a part of something larger than the self. This story cuts close to the bone, unrelenting and irrefutably true, over and over. Laura Elizabeth Woollett is an immense talent, and this is a bracing—and necessary—read.”
—Kayla Rae Whitaker, author of The Animators

“[H]ypnotically written...Many parts of this book are as seductive as the cult.”
— A Bookish Type

“Beautiful Revolutionary has had me completely mesmerized—it has been so long since I’ve been so utterly engrossed and absorbed in a novel. The shifts in perspective are masterfully handled and offer a fascinating and nuanced portrait of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple. I do love cult novels and this is one of the best of them. The tension build to the inevitable conclusion is incredibly well done. I have nothing but love for this book, five beautiful stars. It's my number one Australian novel of the year.”
—Jaclyn Crupi (Hill of Content Bookseller)

“It’s a novel that benefits from deep research worn lightly, and from Laura Elizabeth Woollett’s sensitivity to the perversity of human character and behavior. Beautiful Revolutionary turns the stations of the cross, each visited in the hope of salvation, into a meticulously paved road to hell.”
—The Age

From the Publisher

She has taken years of extensive research, including interviews with surviving members of the Jones cult, then bent these facts into fictional shape…She follows Joan Didion, another sharp-eyed observer of the Californian scene in the '60s and '70s—another writer who appreciated how genuine human impulses could be harnessed and warped by the wrong kind of leader.”

The Saturday Paper

Beautiful Revolutionary has had me completely mesmerized—it has been so long since I’ve been so utterly engrossed and absorbed in a novel. The shifts in perspective are masterfully handled and offer a fascinating and nuanced portrait of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple. I do love cult novels and this is one of the best of them. The tension build to the inevitable conclusion is incredibly well done. I have nothing but love for this book, five beautiful stars. It's my number one Australian novel of the year.”

Jaclyn Crupi

Praise for The Love of a Bad Man :

“Beautifully written—poised and elegant.

The Daily Mail

It’s a novel that benefits from deep research worn lightly, and from Laura Elizabeth Woollett’s sensitivity to the perversity of human character and behavior. Beautiful Revolutionary turns the stations of the cross, each visited in the hope of salvation, into a meticulously paved road to hell.”

The Age

Beautiful Revolutionary is some of the most exciting fiction I’ve encountered. It fearlessly explores the human elements that attracted masses to the Peoples Temple and to Jim Jones—fear, lust, the need to be loved, and the urge to feel a part of something larger than the self. This story cuts close to the bone, unrelenting and irrefutably true, over and over. Laura Elizabeth Woollett is an immense talent, and this is a bracing—and necessary—read.”

Kayla Rae Whitaker

Expertly done.”

Daily Mail

Meticulously researched…Woollett’s prose is arresting—vivid without being flowery, subtle but still affecting. While the plot is dramatic and intriguing, the quality of Woollett’s prose is the most enjoyable aspect of this novel…This is an excellent work of literary historical fiction.”

Books+Publishing

Woollett reclaims victims’ narratives from sensationalist headlines and re-educates her readers through sharp, expertly crafted fiction.”

Irish Times - Anne Joyce

Woollett has wisely chosen to forgo the fetishism of death and Jim Jones that is so often the focus of this tragedy. With Beautiful Revolutionary , Woollett has created an utterly intoxicating portrait of the lives of those seeking to build something new in a world that seemed to be losing its mind. Although we know what awaits us, Woollett masterfully weaves a suspenseful and complex story about people—of their dreams, beliefs, ideals, and lives all coming to a horrific end—in a way that is uniquely hers. Woollett is electric.”

Sarah Schmidt

[The] highlight of this book is Woollett’s prose style, which beautifully conveys the details of what is going on while at the same time wielding a less is more touch and power of suggestion, to maximize the psychological and physical tension of the story… Beautiful Revolutionary is part twisted love story, part dark, noirish, crime novel. I recommend it.”

Pulp Curry

Woollett’s novel is brimming with historical detail and her depiction of Jonestown is impressive…A well-written account, it raises important questions about the desire for faith, especially in a time of crisis, and the dangerous appeal of a powerful personality dressed up as a revolutionary.”

Australian Book Review - Anna MacDonald

Laura Elizabeth Woollett’s Beautiful Revolutionary grabs attention from the beginning, not with narrative hooks but with the sheer penetration of its prose. Woollett’s debut novel is an imaginative refiguring of the Jonestown massacre story…a truly exciting writer.”

Weekend Australian - Ed Wright

Laura Woollett’s imaginative retelling of the Jonestown tragedy does what only fiction can do—endows Jim Jones and his inner circle with a sense of humanity. She formulates answers to unknowable questions—how could otherwise sane people be pulled into Jones’s web of evil? What happened that last, tragic day? A lyrical and sharply rendered tale of innocence lost and ideals betrayed.”

Julia Scheeres

Woollett is considered Australia's foremost expert on Jonestown, and her novel is a riveting tale of love, obsession and devotion. If you loved The Girls or Netflix's Wild Wild Country , this one's for you.”

Elle

Woollett's writing makes this story an electricity storm. The clouds are weed smoke and the lightening charging through that haze is pure sexual energy. I'm almost half-way through and feel wholly transported. The world is both real and surreal; these characters alien and freakishly familiar to me. Completely gripping, and dripping with detail never overdone.”

Bri Lee

Woollett turns a dark chapter in U.S. history into a deeply human, satisfying read for fans of Emma Cline’s The Girls. ”

Booklist

It’s easy to see why Woollett is one of Australia’s leading young writers. The characters and observations are incisive and gripping, and prose masterful and electric.”

Good Reading

A beautifully-written and certainly compelling novel.”

The Lifted Brow

A rich portrait of a highly mythologised historical incident. The passion that the author has had for her research shines through … for readers who appreciate a well-written, well-researched novel that approaches things from different angles.”

The AU Review - Emily Paull

‘She reclaims victims’ narratives from sensationalist head-lines and re-educates her readers through sharp, expertly crafted fiction … Her economy of language is strik-ing; certain chapters are a page in length yet relay a multitude. The “revolutionary suicide” that froze Jonestown in popular culture is injected into every carefully com-posed sentence in which Woollett conflates violence with joy.’

Irish Times - Anna Joyce

The book is the author’s interpretive fictional account, overlaid on a well-researched framework of fact and first-person description…Her writing is thought-provoking and at times luminous.”

Stuff , 'Books of the week September 1, 2018' - Rosa Shiels

Laura Elizabeth Woollett has embarked on a brave quest with Beautiful Revolutionary —and the risk has paid off, with her historically rich and breathtakingly entertaining story about one female hippie searching for life’s meaning in all the wrong places.”

Better Reading

Beautiful Revolutionary suggests that the cult members are victims of Jones because they are victims of the time, swept up in the moment, fired by the rhetoric of revolution.”

The Guardian - Xan Brooks

A deeply intelligent telling of a deeply disturbing sideshow of history.”

Booktopia - John Purcell

Absolutely mesmerizing. I didn’t want this to end…This story is meticulously researched and gets into your heart and mind and remains there for quite some time…[Woollett’s] a master of character and atmosphere.”

Sam Still Reading

It’s a novel that benefits from deep research worn lightly, and from Laura Elizabeth Woollett’s sensitivity to the perversity of human character and behavior.”

The Saturday Age

‘The book is the author’s interpretive fictional account, overlaid on a well-researched framework of fact and first-person description … Her writing is thought-provoking and at times luminous.’

Weekend Press

"Beautiful Revolutionary has had me completely mesmerised—it has been so long since I’ve been so utterly engrossed and absorbed in a novel. The shifts in perspective are masterfully handled and offer a fascinating and nuanced portrait of Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple. I do love cult novels and this is one of the best of them. The tension build to the inevitable conclusion is incredibly well done. I have nothing but love for this book, five beautiful stars. It's my number one Australian novel of the year."

Bookseller at Hill of Content bookstore Jaclyn Crupi

2019-02-17

A young, idealistic couple is torn apart as they are entangled in the Peoples Temple cult.

Just out of college and early in their marriage, Evelyn and Lenny Lynden move to Evergreen Valley, California, so Lenny can fulfill his conscientious objector service in a state mental hospital. Lenny is soon exhausted by his work and regularly comes home with energy only to get high. Evelyn tries to devote herself to homemaking, but the loneliness wears on her. Evelyn suggests the two go to church, where she is immediately taken in by the imposing, charismatic figure of Jim Jones. Evelyn and Lenny become deeply ingrained in the Peoples Temple, and Evelyn begins an affair with Jones—who has a wife and children—and soon divorces Lenny. Evelyn (who was inspired by a woman named Carolyn Moore) eventually has a son with Jones, and Lenny marries another member. Evelyn's isolation is clear, but any understanding of her motivations is deeply obscure. Woollett's novel, which is heavily researched, traverses the uneasy terrain between historical fiction and all that cannot be known about the inner lives of real people. History blends with mythology, creating a dizzying effect in which a reader, too, will be searching for something to ground them. In an effort to explore multiple perspectives, Woollett (The Love of a Bad Man, 2017, etc.) begins to focus on a tumult of other characters, with Lenny and Evelyn receding from the center; the story is at times difficult to follow. Woollett explores how Jones could have been so captivating and manipulative (with a heavy focus on his lies, sexual manipulations, and abuses of his followers), but the Temple's purported focus on socialism and race relations isn't as clear. In the end, a reader feels the characters hurtling toward doom after the cult moves to Guyana. Perhaps one of the story's most devastating takeaways is that two characters who started out deeply committed to pacifism and the imagining of a better world ultimately failed to imagine any actions other than fear, violence, and death.

Weighty and disquieting.

Kirkus Reviews