In the shadow of the ark
(Book)

Originally published: New York : A.A. Levine Books, 2004.

Re Jana and her fishing family have fled their overflowing marshes to find work with thousands of others in the desert territory of the Rrattika: "the people who wander." One of the wanderers, a mad man named Noach, is building a huge ship in the middle of the desert. Re Janaś father, a shipwright, reluctantly joins the community of workers who have made their homes at the base of the ark. Re Jana, a healer and masseuse, charms Ham, one of Noachś sons, with her scented oils and her talent for divining a particularly sweet water source. She is initially amused, and then slowly alarmed at his insistence that his fatherś god will create a flood mighty enough to lift the great ark from the desert floor. Despite the fact that Ham chooses another woman for his wife, Re Jana is sure that his true love for her and her family will insure them a place upon the ship, should the rains really come. Her father, hedging his bets, builds a boat in secret, hoping to cheat Noachś god, who has declared that only Noach and his family will survive the looming deluge. As Re Jana struggles to understand how any god could be so unfeeling as to wipe out all life, the waters begin to rise. As the terrifying prophecy unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear to the doubters that Noachś mad ravings were true. Will Re Jana and her family survive the flood? For the sake of all mankind, they must try.