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\nOlivia Muenter’s new book Little One is coming Feb. 3, 2026The book follows Catharine West, the daughter of a cult leader who escapes her past until a journalist starts asking questionsPEOPLE can exclusively reveal the cover of Little One<\/p>\n
In Little One<\/a>, the daughter of a cult leader runs from her past \u2014 but can she run fast enough?\n<\/p>\n The latest book from Olivia Muenter<\/a>, author of USA Today bestseller Such a Bad Influence<\/a>, follows the story of Catharine West, who ran away from her roots in a Florida cult until an email from a prying journalist changed everything. Set to hit bookshelves on Feb. 3, 2026, Little One<\/a> is a long time coming, Muenter says \u2014 and PEOPLE can exclusively reveal its cover.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI started writing Little One nearly five years ago because I wanted to tell a story about what it feels like to be a woman in the world, told through the lens of suspense,\u201d Muenter tells PEOPLE in an exclusive statement. \u201cI\u2019ve been fascinated by cults for a long time, and it felt like the best setting to dive into the bigger themes of the novel.\u201d\n<\/p>\n “The book is largely inspired by the pressure I have felt over the years to self-improve at any cost, to restrict and contort and hurt myself in the name of beauty, youth, or thinness,” the author continues. “I know I\u2019m not the only woman who\u2019s felt this way. Through Catharine’s story, I wanted to explore the questions of who, exactly, makes these standards and how they manage to stick around generation after generation.\u201d\n<\/p>\n ‘Little One’ by Olivia Muenter.<\/p>\n Little, Brown and Company<\/p>\n Muenter\u2019s hope for the novel, she says, \u201cis that readers will finish the book and consider that maybe the things they have learned to dislike about themselves aren\u2019t fact, but fiction.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the outside, Catharine West\u2019s childhood sounds idyllic \u2014 balmy days spent running barefoot through the gardens, plucking ripe tomatoes straight from the vine as sunlight warmed her skin. Her parents built a life that was simple and community-focused, an ethos that soon attracted others in need of a change,” the official synopsis teases.\n<\/p>\n “For a time, Catharine\u2019s magnetic father was enough to keep the farm thriving, and temptation outside its gates. But as she grew older, the farm and family she was raised to love faded into something darker, forcing Catharine to evolve with it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s now been a decade since Catharine abandoned the farm and has done her best to reinvent her life, until an email from a charismatic journalist interrupts her peace,\u201d the synopsis continues. \u201cHer first instinct is to ignore the stranger\u2019s prying questions \u2014 whether she knew about a mysterious \u2018cult\u2019 in central Florida, whether she is the same \u2018Catharine-with-an-A\u2019 who lived there for a time. But when she realizes the journalist knows far more than he\u2019s letting on, she reconsiders.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Author Olivia Muenter.<\/p>\n Sylvie Rosokoff<\/p>\n If the cult leader\u2019s daughter can stay one step ahead of the journalist, \u201cshe may be able to find the one thing she never wanted to leave behind \u2014 her sister, Linna \u2014 and make sure her own secrets remain buried too,\u201d the synopsis adds.\n<\/p>\n \u201cSharp-eyed and sweltering, Little One masterfully captures the dread of facing your deepest desires, when the hunger to become your best self threatens to drown out everything else,\u201d an official description explains. \u201cAn achingly astute look at modern womanhood and wellness culture, it tackles the enduring question: How far would you go to be good?\u201d\n<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\n<\/p>\n