Announced on April 8, 1997
About the Book
Ninah Huff is the granddaughter of the founder of the Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind, an isolated southern religious community ruled by its patriarch. Ninah is fourteen and full of contradictory feelings. She sees the outside world only at school, where her long dresses and un-cut hair mark her odd and keep her apart from the other girls. She loves her family, but is never sure that she is truly "holy" enough. In particular, she worries about the sanctity of her feelings for James, her prayer partner, as they spend an hour a day together in prayer and meditation, "being Jesus to each other." She is determined not to sin with James - so determined that she's willing to fill her shoes with shells to keep her mind on Jesus' pain.
When Ninah is discovered to be pregnant, the community is outraged. But in the midst of tragedy and loneliness, Ninah continues to maintain that she is not guilty of the sin of fornication; she says that a holy child grows inside her. No amount of punishment can make her recant.
And in the end there is a miracle, though like most miracles, it takes an unpredictable form. Ninah must face with sudden clarity the things she must do for the sake of her own life, and her child's. She will come to understand at last that to embrace the life of the normal world can be a holy act.
About the Author
Born and raised on a small farm outside of Conway, South Carolina, Sheri Reynolds started writing as a teenager and won just about every award in her high school. She attended Davidson College as an English major and went on to receive a Masters of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she was a student of Lee Smith. Sheri Reynolds lives in Richmond, Virginia and is a visiting assistant professor of English and the College of William and Mary. Her debut novel, Bitteroot Landing was a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller. The Rapture of Canaan was published in 1996 by G.P. Putnam's Sons.
Book Reviews
"Folksy lyricism...a colorful supporting cast...a fresh story. As they say in church, 'Hallelujah.'"
— Los Angeles Times Book Review "Assured...devastating."
— Booklist
"The story compels...Reynolds has an imagination that takes the reader into what feels like the world of a teen-age girl trying to make peace with the world and with God."
— Richmond Style Weekly
"Reynolds is the newest and most exciting voice to emerge in contemporary Southern fiction."
— San Francisco Bay Guardian
Get more resources on The Rapture of Canaan, an Oprah's Book Club selection.
View the Complete Oprah's Book Club List.
Ninah Huff is the granddaughter of the founder of the Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind, an isolated southern religious community ruled by its patriarch. Ninah is fourteen and full of contradictory feelings. She sees the outside world only at school, where her long dresses and un-cut hair mark her odd and keep her apart from the other girls. She loves her family, but is never sure that she is truly "holy" enough. In particular, she worries about the sanctity of her feelings for James, her prayer partner, as they spend an hour a day together in prayer and meditation, "being Jesus to each other." She is determined not to sin with James - so determined that she's willing to fill her shoes with shells to keep her mind on Jesus' pain.
When Ninah is discovered to be pregnant, the community is outraged. But in the midst of tragedy and loneliness, Ninah continues to maintain that she is not guilty of the sin of fornication; she says that a holy child grows inside her. No amount of punishment can make her recant.
And in the end there is a miracle, though like most miracles, it takes an unpredictable form. Ninah must face with sudden clarity the things she must do for the sake of her own life, and her child's. She will come to understand at last that to embrace the life of the normal world can be a holy act.
About the Author
Born and raised on a small farm outside of Conway, South Carolina, Sheri Reynolds started writing as a teenager and won just about every award in her high school. She attended Davidson College as an English major and went on to receive a Masters of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she was a student of Lee Smith. Sheri Reynolds lives in Richmond, Virginia and is a visiting assistant professor of English and the College of William and Mary. Her debut novel, Bitteroot Landing was a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller. The Rapture of Canaan was published in 1996 by G.P. Putnam's Sons.
Book Reviews
"Folksy lyricism...a colorful supporting cast...a fresh story. As they say in church, 'Hallelujah.'"
— Los Angeles Times Book Review "Assured...devastating."
— Booklist
"The story compels...Reynolds has an imagination that takes the reader into what feels like the world of a teen-age girl trying to make peace with the world and with God."
— Richmond Style Weekly
"Reynolds is the newest and most exciting voice to emerge in contemporary Southern fiction."
— San Francisco Bay Guardian
Get more resources on The Rapture of Canaan, an Oprah's Book Club selection.View the Complete Oprah's Book Club List.
Published 04/08/1997
