The Rapture of Canaan [Paperback]

Sheri Reynolds (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 1997

From the author of Bitterroot Landing--hailed by the Richmond State as "a splendid contribution to Southern literature"--comes a stunning story woven around the themes of innocence and miracles in everyday life. When the granddaughter of the founder of an isolated religious community in South Carolina is discovered to be pregnant, no amount of punishment will make her recant her statement that a holy child grows inside her.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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.

From Publishers Weekly

In this gritty portrait of a young girl who battles repression in a rural Southern religious community, Reynolds (Bitterroot Landing) once again showcases a compelling narrative voice that's simultaneously harsh and lyrical. The narrator is Ninah Huff, granddaughter of Herman Langston, the founder of a Pentecostal sect in rural South Carolina. Herman is a strict disciplinarian, to say the least: he forces one congregant found guilty of drinking to sleep in an open grave. Because of the Pentecostal group's rigid attitudes, Ninah and her peers are frequently scorned and mocked at school. But her real problems start when she becomes pregnant by her prayer partner. Ninah's subsequent rebellion and the tragic aftermath of her tryst threaten to tear the community apart, particularly when the despotic Herman interprets an ordinary, curable birth defect in her infant son, Canaan, as a sign that she has given birth to the new messiah. While many of the issues Reynolds deals with are coming-of-age staples-teen rebellion; the standoff between adolescent expression and religious repression; the morality of the individual vs. the morality of the group-her gift for characterization ultimately transcends the material as Ninah's strength and resilience enable her to move beyond benighted religiosity toward a true and lasting faith. Literary Guild featured alternate selection.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Books (April 8, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425162443
• ISBN-13: 978-0425162446
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (265 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read novel about faith and freedom..., March 24, 2002

By 

Dianna Johnston "Compulsive Reader" (Joplin, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rapture of Canaan (Paperback)

Rapture of Canaan is an honestly good book. A highly engrossing tale about an extremely religious commune and the severity of their faith. A novel of sharply-crafted twists and turns and one that will play with your emotions. This is a story of one girl's faith in her church and in God and her struggle to balance freedom within the iron walls of the world in which she lives.

Grandpa Herman, founder of The Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind, has a flock to tend to -- his congregation, where some mimic Herman's steadfast and unnerving faith, and some who occassionally stray from the righteous path. And perhaps the most surprising stray of all is his granddaughter, Ninah. Twelve-year-old Ninah, who finds difficulty in controlling her first adolescent stirrings, manages somehow to twist them and convince herself the things she does with her prayer partner, James, is nothing more than learning about Jesus's love through each other. And once the community finds out, the whole system of the Church is shocked to a halt. "The wages of sin is death," says Grandpa Herman. The story plays out wickedly as the truth of Ninah's transgressions plummets to an end....The rapture has come.

The Rapture of Canaan is a powerful and stunning novel. Shari Reynold's prose is a tapestry of faith, religion, fear, sadness, life and death, all woven to create a picture of a cult-like existence and how it effects those in which it governs. A truly page-turning saga that expresses the all-encompassing love for Jesus and the trials of a girl finding her way. An uplifting and frightening mix. A great read.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jump Through the Page...., January 23, 2000

By 

Raina (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rapture Of Canaan (Audio Cassette)

This novel is a touching story, of Ninah who i fell in love with, at times i wanted to jump through the page to tell her to stay strong and that i would be her friend. Not only did this book give me chills every night when i sat down to read it, but it made me mad that this kind of brainwashing occurs in our own society. The message in this story is profound and inspiring. The characters are so wonderfully developed, you can really feel the pain this young girl who is torn between a warped religion and morals is feeling. A wonderful novel that you will NOT be disappointed in. All my friends at Dowling College feel the same! BUY IT!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rapture of Canaan a Delightful, Unexpected Read..., December 29, 2002

By 

iqhope "Dawn Boyer" (Virginia Beach, VA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Rapture of Canaan (Paperback)

Sheri Reynold's Rapture of Canaan title gave me the initial imporession it would be a 'hardship' survival, tell all book about an excape from a cult. It was totally unexpected when I started to read a story about a young girl and her life within this 'self-developed' sect, her comfort in growing up with her immediate family, under the strict guidance of her preacher grandfather and her story-telling grandmother. Her entire family showed that they loved her and other members of the family within the sect and even though their life-style might have been considered 'harsh' by outsiders, they felt they lived a 'good' life.
The young protagonist's 'surprise' pregnancy came about from the Church and her parents failure to communicate properly to her about the birds and bees and her misinterpretation of the "Rapture" the members of the church were constantly seeking.
There is death and sadness, happiness and love, events that occur for the better and worse, but the entire story is beautifully written. I couldn't put the book down, the story line was so interesting and didn't want to wait to see 'what happened next.'
This book would be a very good read for anyone looking for a good story that emphasizes family love and devotion in the face of life's hardships.