Scan barcode
A review by book_concierge
A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
4.0
Digital audiobook performed by Xe Sands
3.5*** ROUNDED UP
From the book jacket: Millet’s new novel follows a group of twelve eerily mature children on a forced vacation with their families at a sprawling lakeside mansion. Contemptuous of their parents… the children feel neglected and suffocated at the same time. When a destructive storm descends on the summer estate, the group’s ringleaders – including Eve, who narrates the story – decide to run away, leading the younger ones on a dangerous foray into the apocalyptic chaos outside.
My reactions:
I’m not a great fan of post-apocalyptic stories but this one grabbed me. Evie’s narration is often times emotionless, almost a “just the facts, M’am” recitation. But nevertheless, the tension builds, as the children fend for themselves in a world devastated by a major hurricane and plagued by lawlessness.
Evie struggles to take care of her little brother, Jack, who has a children’s illustrated bible that he reads obsessively. He tries to interpret what they are living through in the context of the bible stories he’s read. And the scenes where he talks about these things give the entire book the feel of a morality play.
I think it would be a good candidate for a book group discussion, with the symbolism, allegory, and inherent warnings about global warming and consumer excess.
Xe Sands does a fine job narrating the audiobook. There are a lot of characters, but I was seldom confused about who was speaking or what was happening. The fact that Evie is narrator probably helped.
3.5*** ROUNDED UP
From the book jacket: Millet’s new novel follows a group of twelve eerily mature children on a forced vacation with their families at a sprawling lakeside mansion. Contemptuous of their parents… the children feel neglected and suffocated at the same time. When a destructive storm descends on the summer estate, the group’s ringleaders – including Eve, who narrates the story – decide to run away, leading the younger ones on a dangerous foray into the apocalyptic chaos outside.
My reactions:
I’m not a great fan of post-apocalyptic stories but this one grabbed me. Evie’s narration is often times emotionless, almost a “just the facts, M’am” recitation. But nevertheless, the tension builds, as the children fend for themselves in a world devastated by a major hurricane and plagued by lawlessness.
Evie struggles to take care of her little brother, Jack, who has a children’s illustrated bible that he reads obsessively. He tries to interpret what they are living through in the context of the bible stories he’s read. And the scenes where he talks about these things give the entire book the feel of a morality play.
I think it would be a good candidate for a book group discussion, with the symbolism, allegory, and inherent warnings about global warming and consumer excess.
Xe Sands does a fine job narrating the audiobook. There are a lot of characters, but I was seldom confused about who was speaking or what was happening. The fact that Evie is narrator probably helped.