Heavens Before, The [Paperback]

This story is about Noah's flood as seen through the eyes of one of his daughters-in-law, Shem's wife, Annah.

The story begins with Annah amoungst her own people, in her own village on this side of the river. Her people are violent, self-centered, hateful people who are filled with greed, envy and strife.

Annah is hated and mocked by all of them who consider her to be the village idiot because she has not spoken for nearly 25 years; ever since she witnessed the murder of her father when she was but 12 years old. She has found that the only way she can cope with her grief, fear and anger is to let them believe what they will. She avoids the company of everyone as much as possible and spends most of her time down by the riverside where she is soothed by the beauty and tranquility of creation.

Finally, though, after years of pent up grief over the loss of her father and the misery inflicted upon her by her people, she decides to fall into the river and allow it to end the futility of her life. But someone on the other side of the river sees her, understands what she is contemplating and is able to wordlessly convince her not to end her own life. This person becomes a point of light in her world of darkness and gives her hope again.

One night, as she secretly follows her sister-in-law through the forest to the hovel of the Nachash and her Whisperers (evil, witchy, serpent worshipers), Annah discovers that the Nachash fears only the Most High, convincing her that the legends of the Most High are true after all. She decides that if the Most High is the enemy of the Nachash, then she will believe in and follow Him. As she is discovered and threatened by death, she cries out to the Most High who delivers her from harm and destroys the one out to kill her.

Great evil and violence takes the life of her mother and middle brother and she is beaten, nearly to death, by her father's murderer. As soon as she is able, she runs back to the river to find the one who has been so kind to her. When he sees her condition and the danger she is in, he sets out to free her from her abusers and take her to safety. Thus begins her new life on the other side of the river with Noah and his family.

Ms. Barnett-Gramckow has a wonder talent for painting marvelous imagery with her words. She captivates you with her literary skill right from the start and never disappoints. She brings life and new perspective to one of the Bible's most famous events and makes you long to read more by the time you are done. I can't wait for the 2nd in this series to come out; I am confident it will be equally as uplifting, insightful and entertaining as this wonderful tale has been. I hope you read this book and enjoy it as much as I have.

The story is a retelling of Noah's Ark, told from the perspective of a young woman named Annah. Annah has not spoken since the murder of her father by her brother several years ago. Since she does not speak, everyone in her village assumes that she is an imbecile and they treat her as such. Annah's life seems miserable and one day she contemplates ending it all by drowing herself in the river. However, she is stopped from doing so by a handsome young man who lives on the other side of the river. From that moment on Annah's life changes forever.

I was struck by the careful use of visual imagery that Barnett-Gramckow uses throughout the book. She uses words to paint colorful pictures that evoke the mood of each scene in the book; for example warm descriptions for joyful places; jagged and harsh descriptions for violent people, places, and events. This is a somewhat unique style of writing and one that I really haven't come across before.

I also enjoyed reading about the story of the flood told from a different perspective. Noah's Ark was always one of my favorite Bible stories growing up (and it still is really) and I thought the author brought an interesting take to the tale. People who might not have ever seriously thought about Noah's Ark might actually learn a thing or two by reading this book.

As much as I enjoyed reading THE HEAVENS BEFORE, it still is a fictional romance. Despite the fact that the writing is better than the few romances I have read in the past and that the author brings something original to a very old story, it's still a romance and I'm just not much of a romance reader.