SINNERS AND THE SEA

Debut novelist Rebecca Kanner skillfully adapts the well-known story of Noah and the flood into her own fictional account of the ancient world from a point of view never before heard—that of Noah’s nameless wife.

“Some say it is the mark of God, and some say it is the mark of a demon…” Noah’s wife has no name and is cursed with a prominent birthmark on her face that many think is the mark of a demon. As such she is reviled and feared by everyone around her except her father. Desperate to keep her safe, her father gives his virtuous daughter to the ancient and righteous Noah who weds her and takes her to the town of Sorum, a land of out outcasts and pariahs. The 600-year old Noah prospers in Sorum; his wife gives him three sons (Ham, Shem, and Japheth) and, as he is the most righteous person in the land, has a town full of sinners in which to preach. Alone in her new life, Noah’s wife is faced with the hardships of living with an aloof husband who speaks more to God than with her, trying to make friends with the violent and sexual sinners of Sourm, and raising three sons who despite their righteous upbringing have developed some sinful tendencies themselves. When God tells Noah he will destroy the world by flood and to build an ark so that he, his wife, three sons, and their three wives can repopulate the earth Noah’s wife’s trials only multiply. Kanner weaves a masterful tale that breathes an intricate and dynamic life into one of the Bible’s voiceless characters. Through Noah’s wife’s eyes we view a complex world where the lines between right and wrong, righteousness and wickedness blur. And we are left wondering would I have been considered virtuous enough to save?