No one can remember a time when it wasn't raining in the
town. Little by little, the town has been shrinking in
size as people leave and never come back. A small, hardy
group remains. It's to this town that Noah, a successful
assistant minister in the city, is called to minister.
Noah is thrilled to have his own congregation, even if it
is in small town shrouded in confusion. Noah's wife is
used to supporting him without questioning and so she
follows, looking to Noah for hope. However, the continued
rain is going to test everything that Noah and his wife
believe.
I started this book while it was raining for days here at
home. Lindsay Starck captures the dark, dreariness that
endless days of rain produce, only in her case the
endless days truly don't end. The rain itself is the
central element of the story line of NOAH'S WIFE and is
almost a character in itself. I like the added component
of a weatherman, as it adds just the right modern-day
flavor to the story line.
NOAH'S WIFE is never named, and yet her strength
permeates every aspect of the story line. Her
steadfastness, even in the most difficult of times, is
admirable and perhaps even a bit heroic. I love her
relationship with the animals from the zoo, as we see her
own inner strength begin to emerge. I have to admit I was
saddened by the portrayal of Noah, however, as his
weakness made him almost unlikable.
NOAH'S WIFE is a modern-day retelling of the biblical
story of Noah and the flood. Lindsay Starck puts her own
stamp on the story line, as she maintains many elements
of the biblical story while completely upending the
overall meaning of the story. The result is a compelling
and lyrical tale that draws the reader in, even as you
question the very sanity of the townspeople.
In the beginning it was not raining, but it is raining now—and steadily. It has been raining for so long that even though it has not always been raining the townspeople begin to feel as though this is the case—as though the weather has always been this way, the sky this gray, the puddles this profound. And so finds Noah’s wife when she arrives in this gray and wet little town in the hills where it’s been raining for as long as anyone can remember. Driven by her desire to help her minister husband revive the congregation, Noah’s wife is thwarted by the resistance of her eccentric new neighbors and her failure to realize that her husband is battling his own internal crisis. As Noah and his wife strive to bring the townspeople to the church—and keep the strains on their marriage at bay—the rain intensifies, impeding their efforts. Soon, the river waters rise, flooding the streets of the town and driving scores of wild animals out of the once-renowned zoo. As the river swallows up the houses, the telephone poles, and the single highway out of town, Noah, his wife, and the townspeople must confront the savage forces of nature and attempt to reinforce the fragile ties that bind them to each other before their world is washed away. Full of whimsy and gentle ironic humor, Noah’s Wife is a wise and poignant novel that draws upon the motifs of the biblical flood story to explore the true meaning of community, to examine the remarkable strength of the human spirit, and to ask whether hope can exist even where faith has been lost.
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