SuitabookFaith, doubt and belonging
Jacob’s allegiance to the Grace is challenged as his sheltered understanding encounters people and possibilities beyond Nodd.
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Book details
Pete Hautman - Author
A speculative coming-of-age story about faith under pressure, as Jacob’s sheltered life meets doubt, outsiders, attraction and the possibility that his community’s promised future may not unfold as expected.
Tackling faith, doubt, and transformation, National Book Award winner Pete Hautman explores a boy's unraveling allegiance to an insular cult. Twelve square miles of paradise, surrounded by an eight-foot-high chain-link fence: this is Nodd, the land of the Grace. It is all seventeen-year-old Jacob knows. Beyond the fence lies the World, a wicked, terrible place, doomed to destruction. When the Archangel Zerachiel descends from Heaven, only the Grace will be spared the horrors of the Apocalypse. But something is rotten in paradise. A wolf invades Nodd, slaughtering the Grace's sheep. A new boy arrives from outside, and his scorn and disdain threaten to tarnish Jacob's contentment. Then, while patrolling the borders of Nodd, Jacob meets Lynna, a girl from the adjoining ranch, who tempts him to sample the forbidden Worldly pleasures that lie beyond the fence. Jacob's faith, his devotion, and his grip on reality are tested as his feelings for Lynna blossom into something greater and the End Days grow ever closer. Eden West is the story of two worlds, two hearts, the power of faith, and the resilience of the human spirit.
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Sign in for personalised guidanceA speculative coming-of-age story about faith under pressure, as Jacob’s sheltered life meets doubt, outsiders, attraction and the possibility that his community’s promised future may not unfold as expected.
Jacob’s allegiance to the Grace is challenged as his sheltered understanding encounters people and possibilities beyond Nodd.
Nodd is enclosed by a high fence and presented as the only world Jacob knows, while encounters with a newcomer and Lynna challenge that separation.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: the current material supports only a cautious reading; another book-specific source is still needed.
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