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Noah's Wife by Lindsay Starck
3.5★'s
Book Description:
When young minister Noah and his dutiful wife arrive at their new post in the hills, they've reached a gray and wet little town where it’s been raining for as long as anyone can remember. Noah’s wife is determined to help her husband revive this soggy congregation but soon finds her efforts thwarted by her eccentric new neighbors, among them an idiom-wielding Italian hardware store owner, a towering town matriarch, and a lovelorn zookeeper determined to stand by his charges. Overwhelmed, Noah’s wife fails to realize that Noah, too, is battling his own internal crisis. Soon the river waters rise, flooding the streets of the town and driving scores of wild animals out of the once-renowned zoo. As the water swallows up the houses, the telephone poles, and the single highway out of town, Noah, his wife, and the townspeople must confront not only the savage forces of nature but also the fragile ties that bind them to one another, all before their world is washed away.
My Thoughts:
The setting for this whimsical tale is a spot that was once a charming tourist destination in the hills but which, after the nonstop downpour, has become almost a ghost town. Throw in that it's the 21st century... complete with TV, cars and trucks, and a visiting weatherman who warns the townsfolk that no end to the rain is in sight and that they are doomed unless they evacuate within the next week. Of course the townspeople ignore his advise...when has the weather people ever been right after all? The local zoo animals aren't fairing so well so the townsfolk set about a rescue. This is where the comedy in the situation comes to light with penguins in the walk in freezer...ostrich and emu's in the general store... and Noah...who is the town's new, young minister, sadly fails to live up to his predecessor in the Bible whose name he is either fortunate or unfortunate to share. As the waters continue to rise the towns people learn to work together for a common cause...the animal's show them the way to safety....and Pastor Noah and Mrs. Noah learn a valuable lesson about life and love. Overall, it is an upbeat, and fanciable tale and well worth the read. And my mother handed me the book and said "Here, read this." Can't argue with Mom.
