In the Shadow of the Ark - Hardcover

Provoost, Anne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439442346 ISBN 13: 9780439442343

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2004

Synopsis

THE RED TENT meets GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING in the profoundly moving tale of a young woman who survives the flood as a stowaway on Noah's Ark.

"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.

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Reviews

Grade 11 Up–This novel has a biblical backdrop, but unfortunately, the passage in which it is grounded (Genesis 7:11) is better than the story this author works too hard to create. "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of the heaven were opened." Provoost relates the well-known story about the building and sailing of Noah's ark, but the pacing is slow, the characters are simplistic and undeveloped, and the prose is uneven and wordy. Re Jana, an outsider due to her race and background, is the daughter of a shipbuilder seeking work, and upon arriving at Noah's shipyard with her family, she meets Ham, a privileged son of the Great Builder (Noah). Their love is built on their sexual attraction, and they work hard for Re Jana and her father to become "chosen by the Unnameable" (the Christian term for God) to board the ark in an effort to escape the impending and life-threatening downpour. The writing is adult in tone and sensibility, and few teens will be engaged enough to grapple with the philosophical concerns it raises about who is chosen and who is left behind. In the end, this book should remain "in [a] shadow."–Kelly Berner Richards, St. George's School, Newport, RI
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Gr. 10-up. In the tradition of the adult novel The Red Tent comes this story of the biblical Flood, recounted by Re Jana, whose family leaves the marshes to find the ark. The passion Re Jana finds with Ham, son of the Builder, leads to a place on the ark, but this "safe haven," with the stink and sounds of the animals, starvation, and repeated (if not lustful) rapes by Ham's brothers, tests her in every way, even as she carries new life into the New World. Exquisitely detailed and intelligently written, this is a YA novel only in the broadest sense; no one would blink if it appeared on an adult list. Teens will find themselves alternately caught up in the story's tension, especially once the rain starts falling, and bored by some of the religious and philosophical underpinnings. There are subtly portrayed sexual incidents, too (including a relationship between Re Jana and Ham's wife) but these are small stitches in a vast piece that strikingly reveals the human condition at the hour of its destruction. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0439442346
• ISBN 13: 9780439442343
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384