Official Review: Noah's Wife

Vickyoreo86 · Post by **Vickyoreo86** » 24 Jan 2017, 06:31

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of Noah's Wife by T.K. Thorne.]

Noah's Wife by T. K Thorne is a fictional retelling of the biblical story of Noah's Ark, only this time we follow his wife's tale from child to womanhood. Na'amah, Noah's wife, is on the autism spectrum and seen in this time as mentally deformed. Though visually beautiful, others of her tribe keep their distance, believing she is too different and should have been left to die at birth. Her brother torments her, yet her grandmother tells her she is special and 'marked by Mother Goddess'. Na'amah shows us the world through her eyes, in visions of colour and sound with the awkwardness of one with what we call today, Aspergers.

I can not begin to explain how wonderful I believe this book is. Set in Turkey 5521 B.C the women of the tribe are taught the ways of Mother Goddess and honor her in hopes their crops grow strong, and the men worship Father God who rules the sky and blesses the hunts. Na'amah struggles to believe in the God and Goddess. She sees the world differently and questions everything. Her form of autism means she struggles to hold in these thoughts and often questions everyone's belief in something they can not see and feel. While this sets her apart, what truly disturbs those around her is how she remembers every single detail of each day and stores them in her mind as a series of images, colours and sounds. She knows every sheep, when they are about to give birth, when they are sick or dying and who in the tribe they belong to.

Na'amah longs to be a shepherdess and spends her days with the animals and her best friend, Yanner, who accepts her the way she is. But she is a young girl and must one day marry and have children and run a home, as is expected of her. One day, at the marketplace when she is admiring an exotic white bird, Noah, the tribe Boatmaker, sees her. He asks her father to give Na'amah to him as 'Wife' and promises not to claim her until she is a 'woman'.

This is only the beginning of the story. Over the years of Na'amah's life we watch this wonderfully strong girl face many hardships and trials. There is heartbreak and fear and tragedy. I wanted to climb in to this book so many times and put myself between this girl and the bad men hurting her. Her journey is written beautifully from a simple, yet also complex mind. Every moment of her life will stay in my heart. The times were harsh for women and they grow more dangerous as the people twist the origins of their beliefs for their own powerful gains.

Noah's Wife becomes a tale of inner strength, of how man can turn divine teachings in to a way to hurt and punish. It is a tale of how one young girl who is open to free thought is connected to everything around her through her 'deformity'. She has a connection to the animals and the seasons. This book deserves the full 4 out of 4 rating I am giving it. I have never read a book from the point of view of one with autism, especially during the times before Christ and how it was dealt with back then.

There is far more to Na'amah's story than I can explain. I can only warn that some scenes brought me close to tears, provoked anger and kept me turning the pages hoping she would pull through every hardship placed ahead of her. T.K Thorne's descriptions and hidden meanings are wonderful to read and it is a book I will pick up again in the future. There is no pushing of religion, it promotes freedom of thought and teaches us to question anything we don't understand. It is a book that leaves you thinking for many hours after you finish.

rssllue · Post by **rssllue** » 24 Jan 2017, 12:50

Very well thought out review! Your depictions of the happenings in the book described the main thrust of it quite well. It is definitely an interesting concept of seeing the events through the eyes of one who has a form of autism. Glad you liked the book!

Vickyoreo86 · Post by **Vickyoreo86** » 24 Jan 2017, 12:55

rssllue wrote:Very well thought out review! Your depictions of the happenings in the book described the main thrust of it quite well. It is definitely an interesting concept of seeing the events through the eyes of one who has a form of autism. Glad you liked the book!

Thank you very much!

rssllue · Post by **rssllue** » 24 Jan 2017, 12:57

You are most welcome!

nramomof2 · Post by **nramomof2** » 28 Jan 2017, 10:57

Wow! It sounds like a great book. Your review of it makes me want to start reading it right away.

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 31 Jan 2017, 06:09

Sounds like a wonderful book with fascinating and delightful character. I am familiar with the story of Noah's Ark and the idea of Noah's wife having some form of autism is kind of intriguing. Good job on the review. Congratulations to T.K. Thorne on such an obviously well written book.

Vickyoreo86 · Post by **Vickyoreo86** » 31 Jan 2017, 13:05

nramomof2 wrote:Wow! It sounds like a great book. Your review of it makes me want to start reading it right away.

Thank you.

It is Perfect for those who have beliefs and for those without. It is set in old biblical times, but promotes freedom of thought also. Written so well!

-- 31 Jan 2017, 13:07 --

kimmyschemy06 wrote:Sounds like a wonderful book with fascinating and delightful character. I am familiar with the story of Noah's Ark and the idea of Noah's wife having some form of autism is kind of intriguing. Good job on the review. Congratulations to T.K. Thorne on such an obviously well written book.

I have watched many films and read a couple of the Noah's Ark stories, but I haven't read anything from the wife's point of view. Adding autism in to the mix, in a time when they had no idea what that meant and how to deal with it, was the icing on the cake for me

Cheeky · Post by **Cheeky** » 01 Feb 2017, 09:30

Wow What an interesting book. I love bible stories, Never quite heard of one that has autism, though.
I loved how you explained the book properly and put your heart into it,good on you: Vickyoreo86 It was a very good read.

Vickyoreo86 · Post by **Vickyoreo86** » 01 Feb 2017, 13:24

Cheeky wrote:Wow What an interesting book. I love bible stories, Never quite heard of one that has autism, though.
I loved how you explained the book properly and put your heart into it,good on you: Vickyoreo86 It was a very good read.

Thank you very much! It did kind of touch me!

LivreAmour217 · Post by **LivreAmour217** » 07 Feb 2017, 16:23

This sounds like a good story! As someone on the spectrum, I am interested in reading this book! Thanks for the great review!

Vickyoreo86 · Post by **Vickyoreo86** » 07 Feb 2017, 16:57

LivreAmour217 wrote:This sounds like a good story! As someone on the spectrum, I am interested in reading this book! Thanks for the great review!

If you do read this please could you message me your thoughts as it would be great to see what you think!

gali · Post by **gali** » 25 Feb 2017, 03:53

A retelling of the biblical story of Noah's Ark involving Asperger? Sure sounds like an intriguing concept, especially as I am familiar with the original tale. Good job on the review!

uk8971 · Post by **uk8971** » 25 Feb 2017, 06:54

The fact that there is no pushing of religion as per the review and that it promotes freedom of thought while teaching us to question anything we don't understand has impressed me. I am keen to read this book soon as it appears to be quite interesting and makes one emotional as he/she reads the agonizing tale of Na'amah's even when its a fictional narration. Congrats on being the BOTD.

ashley_claire · Post by **ashley_claire** » 25 Feb 2017, 12:29

Your review has definitely caught my attention. I've never read a book from the point of view of someone with Asperger's and I'm looking forward to sampling this. I'm also glad to see this book promotes free thought instead of pushing a Biblical agenda. Congrats on BOTD!

Vickyoreo86 · Post by **Vickyoreo86** » 25 Feb 2017, 12:46

Thank you very much for your kind comments. I actually read this for a second time and picked up even more from the story and had a deeper understanding. It is a very well thought out story