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Rapture of Canaan (Oprah's Book Club)
by Sheri Reynolds

Published: 1997-04-08
Kindle Edition : 340 pages
2 members reading this now
4 clubs reading this now
7 members have read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 1 of 2 members
At the Church of Fire and Brimstone and Gods Almighty Baptizing Wind, Grandpa Herman makes the rules for everyone, and everyone obeys, or else. Try as she might, Ninah hasn't succeeded in resisting temptation her prayer partner, James and finds herself pregnant. She fears the wrath of Grandpa ...
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Introduction

At the Church of Fire and Brimstone and Gods Almighty Baptizing Wind, Grandpa Herman makes the rules for everyone, and everyone obeys, or else. Try as she might, Ninah hasn't succeeded in resisting temptation her prayer partner, James and finds herself pregnant. She fears the wrath of Grandpa Herman, the congregation and of God Himself. But the events that follow show Ninah that Gods ways are more mysterious than even Grandpa Herman understands.

Editorial Review

Oprah Book Club® Selection, April 1997: Members of the Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind spend their days and nights serving the Lord and waiting for the Rapture--that moment just before the Second Coming of Christ when the saved will be lifted bodily to heaven and the damned will be left behind to face the thousand years of tribulation on earth. The tribulation, according to Grandpa Herman, founder of Fire and Brimstone, will be an ugly time: "He said that we'd run out of food. That big bugs would chase us around and sting us with their tails . . . He said we'd turn on the faucet in the bathroom and find only blood running out . . . He said evil multitudes would come unto us and cut off our limbs, and that we wouldn't die . . . And then he'd say, 'But you don't have to be left behind. You can go straight to Heaven with all of God's special children if you'll only open your hearts to Jesus . . .'"

Such talk of damnation weighs heavy on the mind of Ninah Huff, the 15-year-old narrator of Sheri Reynolds's second novel, The Rapture of Canaan. To distract her from sinful thoughts about her prayer partner James, Ninah puts pecan shells in her shoes and nettles in her bed. But concentrating on the Passion of Jesus cannot, in the end, deter Ninah and James from their passion for each other, and the consequences prove both tragic and transforming for the entire community.

The Rapture of Canaan is a book about miracles, and in writing it, Reynolds has performed something of a miracle herself. Although the church's beliefs and practices may seem extreme (sleeping in an open grave, mortifying the flesh with barbed wire), its members are complex and profoundly sympathetic as they wrestle with the contradictions of Fire and Brimstone's theology, the temptations of the outside world, and the frailties of the human heart.

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Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
 
  "disturbing and strange but well written"by stacy d. (see profile) 04/12/10

 
  "Not this one"by Gaylynn M. (see profile) 07/18/08

Just didn't care for this one. An Oprah pick but not my recommendation.

 
  "a book to read when other subject matters seem exhausted."by marcia p. (see profile) 03/29/07

A unique experience worth reading about if one doesn't mind dark sides of life. Can be an eye opener & provide greater insight, however best to read along with comedy relief.

 
  "Nearly everbody in our book club felt this was not a worthwhile book and we wondered "Whatever was Oprah thinking?"by Kathleen B. (see profile) 03/22/07

Writing style was not noteworthy. Subject matter was not particularly enlighening and the book ended with a thud. Parts of the story seemed to come out of nowhere and end in nowhere.

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