Literary fiction
A Children's Bible
by Lydia Millet
Quick take
Neglectful parents. Strong-willed children. A raging apocalypse. Enter the eerie world of this acclaimed novel.
Good to know
Emotional
Critically acclaimed
Book about books
Unsettling
Synopsis
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 ringleaders—including Eve, who narrates the story—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.