In the Shadow of the Ark Book

"And every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth..."When ReJana and her family reach the desert plain where the great ship is being constructed, the world has already begun to change. The waters are rising everywhere, and both people and animals are beginning to panic. This is the dramatic story of the weeks and months that follow, as the rain transforms the earth and the people come to understand the magnitude of the disaster. This is the story of one girl who stows away on the ark for love of Ham, Noah's son. This is her story of survival.

Publishers Weekly

Provoost (Falling) retells the story of Noah's ark, with Noah here referred to as "the Builder," from Re Jana's outsider perspective. After she, her father and her crippled mother learn from the wandering Rrattika people that a great ship is under construction, Re Jana's father, a skilled carpenter, hires Alem (also a Rrattika) to lead them from the rising waters of their marshland to the building site. Her father goes to work on the ark, and Re Jana falls in love with the Builder's son Ham; he disguises her as a boy and she finds favor not only for her gift of divining water but also for bathing and soothing the men ("We daughters of Kan have a talent for water," she explains to readers). But another woman, Neelata, also vies for Ham's attention-and a place on the ark. Re Jana's point of view allows readers to consider the incredulity and the desperation of ordinary people when faced with this impending alleged cataclysm. However, the author glosses over several major elements in the relationships between characters: the heroine's sexual connection to Alem; her father's change of heart in deciding to work with the Builder; Re Jana's decision to save Neelata. Issues raised in the narrative may well provoke readers' thoughts about the nature of faith, goodness and cruelty, but the characters unfortunately remain sketchily outlined rather than fully formed. Ages 14-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.