Monica West

"Fifteen-year-old Miriam Horton is the oldest daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher and faith healer. Every summer, the Hortons pack themselves tight in their old minivan and travel through small southern towns for revival season: the time during which Miriam's father holds massive healing services, drawing thousands of people looking to be cured of ailments and disease. This revival season, though, doesn't go as planned, and after one service in which Reverend Horton's healing powers are tested like never before, Miriam witnesses a shocking act of violence behind the revival tent. From that point on, Miriam's belief in her father-and in her faith-begins to waver. When the Hortons return home from the revival circuit, Miriam's confusion only grows as she discovers that she might have the power to heal-even though her father and the church have always made it clear that this power is denied to women. Over the course of the next year, and as a new revival circuit approaches, Miriam must decide between her faith, her family, and her newfound power that might be able to save others, but, if discovered by her father, could destroy Miriam. A story of spiritual awakening and disillusionment in a southern, black, Evangelical community, REVIVAL SEASON is a haunting novel of complicated familial love, a young girl's coming into herself, and the price of being among the community of the faithful"--

A Novel

Revival Season

The daughter of one of the South’s most famous Baptist preachers discovers a shocking secret about her father that puts her at odds with both her faith and her family in this debut novel. “Spellbinding…Revival Season should be read alongside Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus.” —The Washington Post A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Every summer, fifteen-year-old Miriam Horton and her family pack themselves tight in their old minivan and travel through small southern towns for revival season: the time when Miriam’s father—one of the South’s most famous preachers—holds massive healing services for people desperate to be cured of ailments and disease. But, this summer, the revival season doesn’t go as planned, and after one service in which Reverend Horton’s healing powers are tested like never before, Miriam witnesses a shocking act of violence that shakes her belief in her father—and her faith. When the Hortons return home, Miriam’s confusion only grows as she discovers she might have the power to heal—even though her father and the church have always made it clear that such power is denied to women. Over the course of the following year, Miriam must decide between her faith, her family, and her newfound power that might be able to save others, but if discovered by her father, could destroy Miriam. Celebrating both feminism and faith, Revival Season is a “tender and wise” (Ann Patchett) story of spiritual awakening and disillusionment in a Southern, Black, Evangelical community.

Monica West

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