In “Signs & Wonders,” Angelic Rodgers throws readers into the heart of Arkansas’s culture wars through the story of Leah McHendrick, a schoolteacher caught between her classroom and her increasingly demanding evangelical church.
The novel kicks off with a bang: Leah reluctantly joins her church’s protest against a Satanic Temple rally, only to collapse into speaking in tongues before the controversial Baphomet statue. This public breakdown catapults her from church wallflower to spiritual celebrity overnight. What follows is a tense unravelling of Leah’s identity, as her newfound fame within the Church of Signs & Wonders changes her life.
What makes this book gripping is how believably Rodgers portrays the slow tightening of control around Leah. Her husband Wade suddenly pays attention to her again. Pastor Judah singles her out for praise. The pastor’s wife Helen takes her under wing for “special counseling.” All this validation feels good to Leah, who’s still raw from multiple miscarriages and years of being told her teaching career is an obstacle to God’s plan for her womanhood. Anybody who’s interested in cult stories and the psychology of religion will find themselves immersed and invested.
The novel discusses religion in a way that doesn’t feel patronising to either atheists or believers. Through the church’s connections to Senator Simmons and their “Seven Mountains Mandate” strategy, Rodgers exposes how faith can becomes a weapon. The church members’ disturbing fixation on “taking over” education hits especially hard through Leah’s interactions with students like Rachel, who represent what’s at stake beyond church walls. Rodgers avoids the easy trap of mocking believers. Instead, she shows how genuine spiritual hunger makes people vulnerable to exploitation. Leah’s euphoria during her trance feels real, making her susceptibility to manipulation all the more heartbreaking.
The journalist Charlie Stewart plotline offers both a necessary layer of tension, and a much-needed counterpoint to the insular world Leah inhabits. As Charlie digs into the Church of Signs & Wonders and its political ties, the novel gains an addictive sense of momentum that contrasts with Leah’s increasingly constrained existence. Charlie’s chapters are brisk and outward-facing, filled with newsroom conversations, research threads, and interviews that open the novel up beyond the church walls. Through her, we see how others perceive the movement Leah is caught in.
The novel draws readers into Leah’s unsettling evolution from unremarkable teacher to reluctant spiritual icon. As the novel goes on, the momentum of her journey creates a tension that makes “Signs & Wonders” impossible to put down, as each scene builds toward an uncertain conclusion. This novel grips not through spectacle but through its engrossingly real portrayal of a woman caught between competing loyalties.
The writing style is mostly clean, economical, and easy for anyone to follow. Rodgers doesn’t draw attention to the prose itself; instead, she uses language as a window into her characters’ lives. Sentences are measured and unadorned, often carrying hidden meanings through what is left unsaid. Dialogue feels natural without being overly casual, and inner monologues are rendered with just enough detail to be revealing without veering into melodrama. Rodgers has a gift for subtle repetition—certain phrases, gestures, and tones recur in a way that builds significance over time.
“Signs & Wonders” offers a gripping look at how religious belief and personal identity can come into conflict within tight-knit Southern communities. While it touches on themes of religious nationalism and friendship, its real strength lies in its portrayal of one woman trying to navigate her spirituality amid the pressure from her church and her marriage. It’s a thoughtful, absorbing read for fans of books like “The Dearly Beloved”, “God Spare the Girls”, or “The Book of Essie” and anyone interested in cult dynamics.
You can get your copy of “Signs & Wonders” here!
