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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