The Preservationist

Noe says, -I must build a boat. -A boat, she says. -A ship, more like. I’ll need the boys to help, he adds as an afterthought. -We’re leagues from the sea, she says, or any river big enough to warrant a boat. This conversation is making Noe impatient. -I’ve no need to explain myself to you. -And when you’re done, she says carefully, we’ll be taking this ship to the sea somehow? As usual, Noe’s impatience fades quickly. -We’ll not be going to the sea. The sea will be coming to us.

In this brilliant debut novel, Noah’s family (or Noe as he’s called here)-his wife, sons, and daughters-in-law-tell what it’s like to live with a man touched by God, while struggling against events that cannot be controlled or explained. When Noe orders his sons to build an ark, he can’t tell them where the wood will come from. When he sends his daughters-in-law out to gather animals, he can offer no directions, money, or protection. And once the rain starts, they all realize that the true test of their faith is just beginning. Because the family is trapped on the ark with thousands of animals-with no experience feeding or caring for them, and no idea of when the waters will recede. What emerges is a family caught in the midst of an extraordinary Biblical event, with all the tension, humanity-even humor-that implies.