Noah's Wife

February 8, 2016
Debut author Starck inventively imagines Old Testament stories within a contemporary setting. Noah and his photographer wife swap his city parish for ministry in an unnamed coastal town where it won't stop raining. The former reverend of the town committed suicide, but the remaining townspeople are a resilient, quirky bunch, including Mrs. McGinn, the outspoken diner owner and de facto mayor, and Mauro, a shopkeeper. Sometimes the naming is a bit obvious: Adam is the zookeeper, and Jonas is the weatherman who foresees doom. Noah begins the thankless tasks of restoring the dilapidated church and encouraging his parishioners, but doubts he is making any difference. His dutiful wifeânever namedâserves the community on his behalf, tending to displaced zoo animals and concocting a flood evacuation plan. The novel's 40 chapters cleverly reflect the 40 days of the Genesis flood. Minor characters, such as a widower who performs magic tricks, take on more and more significance, until eventually their sermonizing supplants Noah's former role. Meanwhile, his wife largely remains a cipher. Still, the biblical motifs of pairs, exodus, exile, prophecy, and hope echo strongly. Starck's bright voice should hold particular appeal for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Sara Gruen. Agent: Laura Langlie, Laura Langlie Agency.

November 15, 2015
There's an endless amount of rain, animals from a once-renowned and now ruined zoo, various boats, and a man of God named Noah. But this isn't your average biblical flood scenario. First of all, the setting for Starck's debut is the United States, primarily a spot that was once a charming tourist destination in the hills but which, after the nonstop downpour, has become a moldering ghost town. Second, the era is modern, complete with TVs, trucks, and a visiting state 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. Charismatic, joyful, energetic minister Noah has arrived, along with his wife, after the previous minister's death--was it suicide?--with a simple mission: to do some good. But can his faith triumph where another has succumbed? Starck's unusual, often charmingly phrased fable is constructed around the responses of a band of individuals to life's unpredictable challenges. The townsfolk who stay on--loyal zookeeper Adam, sincere Italian storekeeper Mauro, indomitable diner-owner Mrs. McGinn--show their mettle as the fabric of their lives and homes crumbles away, even billeting the zoo animals after their quarters are inundated. There's comedy in the penguins lodging in Mrs. McGinn's walk-in freezer and tragedy as Noah falters in the face of the onslaught. But Starck's story has largely upbeat messages to deliver: the animals point out a path to safety; the community comes together; true hearts are conjoined; and Mrs. Noah rallies the rescue forces. Variously romantic, symbolic, philosophical, feminist, and fanciful, this is an atmospheric tale that meanders to a sweetly rousing conclusion. Forget the ark, forget the patriarch. It's the women who tend to triumph in this modern take on an Old Testament parable.

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November 1, 2015
It's safe to assume that a novel called Noah's Wife would feature raina lot of it. It's been raining so long in the unnamed town that provides the setting for Starck's story that no one can remember when the rain began. When the energetic new minister, Noah, and Noah's wife (she has no other name) arrive, they find a small gray ghost town. Most of the townspeople have fled, just a handful of animals are left in the zoo, which was once a tourist draw, and the previous minister walked into the river and drowned. Noah inspires the townspeople to take the animals into their homes when the zoo is washed away, but his despair at not being able to save the town leads to a crisis in faith and, for his wife, a reevaluation. Meanwhile, the townspeople who have refused to evacuate are trapped and forced to move to higher groundwith the animalswhen their homes are flooded. Starck has crafted a quirky tale with several strong characters, and despite occasional lapses into didacticism, her modern-day fable of faith, hope, loss, and illusion is intriguing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

November 15, 2015

It's been raining for years in this isolated town, once renowned for its zoo and its hospitality. Many have moved away, but a few stalwarts remain, refusing to evacuate the drowning village even at the urging of the weatherman. Noah is assigned to the town's church after the previous minister commits suicide, but he suffers his own crisis of faith, while his photographer wife lives to serve others but lacks her own identity. The townspeople gave up on praying long ago and don't want sermons urging patience and endurance. Suddenly, the zoo floods and they unite to save and house animals, from snakes to penguins. Carolina Quarterly editor in chief Starck populates her first novel with memorable characters, of which Noah and his never-named wife are the least interesting. These include an outspoken councilwoman who "keeps the place afloat"; the devoted zookeeper and his long-suffering fiancee, who yearns to leave town; and a cardiac surgeon who worries about her widowed amateur magician father. VERDICT Starck does more telling than showing, slowing the pace of the action and hobbling character development. Themes of grief, loyalty, and illusion resound, but devotion to the allegory at the novel's core ultimately feels contrived. [See Prepub Alert, 7/6/15.]--Paula Gallagher, Baltimore Cty. P.L.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2015

When the heroine arrives in a small, damp coastal town with her minister husband, she's initially enthusiastic about revitalizing the church community. But her efforts are thwarted by the town's odd (and oddly resistant) denizens, her husband's own destabilizing doubts, and the rain that keeps coming...and coming. From the fiction editor of the Carolina Quarterly raised, as her biography says, in the Milwaukee Public Library.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.