NAAMAH by Sarah Blake

Naamah is Noah’s wife, as in Noah of the Old Testament.  This is not a biography by any stretch.  Magical realism abounds, but then the premise of having two of every animal species on a boat is not exactly fathomable, either.  The supernatural elements, the lengthy dream sequences, and the appearance of God in the form of a bird all lend a biblical quality to the narrative but not in a good way.  The language on the other hand, is quite modern, and I questioned the multiple references to planets, including planet Earth.  I doubt the likelihood that people during Noah’s time thought of the Earth as a planet.  Given that I am not a biblical scholar, I don’t know how much of this story is in the Bible, but my sense is that the Bible’s focus is on Noah, not his wife, and that shift of focus is exactly the point of this novel.  Naamah sees God as cruel and unjust, especially with regard to the destruction of the rest of humanity.  She particularly laments the fate of children, as well as that of her female lover, and mingles with the dead children, who inhabit the bottom of the floodwaters in a sort of afterlife.  (An angel gives Naamah the ability to stay underwater for long periods of time.)  This book is probably full of symbolism, but I was at a loss to interpret any of it, nor did I understand the reason for some of the strange happenings, such as Naamah’s losing the ability to see the animals.  My biggest takeaway is that Naamah views herself as the mother of all humanity going forward, and that is a weighty assignment.