A Children’s Bible

Pulitzer Prize finalist Lydia Millet’s sublime new novelddash;her first since the National Book Award long-listed Sweet Lamb of Heavenfdash;follows a group of twelve eerily mature children on a forced vacation with their families at a sprawling lakeside mansion.

Contemptuous of their parents, who pass their days in a stupor of liquor, drugs, and sex, the children feel neglected and suffocated at the same time. When a destructive storm descends on the summer estate, the group’s ringleadershdash;including Eve, who narrates the story dash;decide to run away, leading the younger ones on a dangerous foray into the apocalyptic chaos outside.

As the scenes of devastation begin to mimic events in the dog-eared picture Bible carried around by her beloved little brother, Eve devotes herself to keeping him safe from harm.

A Children’s Bible is a prophetic, heartbreaking story of generational divide?dash;and a haunting vision of what awaits us on the far side of Revelation.