Tarry This Night

October 15, 2017
This dark and painfully possible novel follows Ruth, a young woman who is coming of age in a post-climate-disaster, underground cult. The collective, led by the disturbingly delusional Father Ernst, bears all the trimmings of a racist/misogynist/wife-sharing nightmare. Ernst holds many wives and breeds many children, none of whom belong to any one mother. When Ruth is slated to become the latest Mrs. Father Ernst, she must decide not only whether she is willing to rebel and become a radical outlaw but also whether she has the strength to abandon the faith that has been restored in her ever since the cult rescued her from the violence of the above-ground streets many years ago. The book is a modern take on the Lilith story, the Jewish folktale made famous for its themes of female demonology and the rejection of male subservience. Immediate and terrifying, Dunnion's fresh new narrative adds to the growing conversation about misogyny and freedom. A surefire hit for fans of Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)