In the Shadow of the Ark

This epic novel re-tells the familiar Noah’s Ark story. Provoost rejects the various comic cop-outs by which previous adaptors, such as the writers of medieval mystery plays, tried to dodge the disturbing questions raised by the legend. They are very awkward indeed. If Noah’s Ark represents the restricted vengeance of a just and disappointed god (here always called the Unnameable), then must we suppose that Noah’s family were the only righteous and deserving people in the world? If so, were they, the chosen ones, entirely free of sin? And if not, what sort of godly justice was it that drowned all the rest, both good and bad alike? If the flood was indeed such a drastic restart for humanity, why has this ruthless deity failed to punish all the evil done by humans since? Why is unregenerate humankind still here, as yet unflooded? What price justice?

The story is told by a wonderful young woman called Re Jana, the lover and concubine of Noah’s son Ham. Her family have left their home community of dark-skinned people in the marshes to seek out the rumoured desert boatbuilding and join Noah’s workers. Re Jana’s stoic tones of candid, resolute and dignified acceptance tell a story of bigotry, power, deceit and betrayal. It reports, entirely without prurience, both heterosexual and lesbian love, and rapes (including the multiple rape of a paralysed woman), and extremes of hardship and cruelty. It invites us to question whether any group that believes itself elect and chosen, (whether by race, colour, religion or species) can escape corruption and depravity. The conclusion is inevitably pessimistic. ‘The flood did not wipe out evil.’ There is little room at the end for faith in the redemptive powers of humans or gods.

This is a challenging and thought-provoking novel, which asks many tough and pertinent questions. It is also a highly readable and compelling narrative, which puts intimate flesh and blood on the dry bones of Bible story.