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    The Land of Decoration: A Novel
    The Land of Decoration: A Novel
    The Land of Decoration: A Novel
    Ebook335 pages4 hours

    The Land of Decoration: A Novel

    By Grace Mccleen

    4/5

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    A mesmerizing debut about a young girl whose steadfast belief and imagination bring everything she once held dear into treacherous balance
    In Grace McCleen's harrowing, powerful debut, she introduces an unforgettable heroine in ten-year-old Judith McPherson, a young believer who sees the world with the clear Eyes of Faith. Persecuted at school for her beliefs and struggling with her distant, devout father at home, young Judith finds solace and connection in a model in miniature of the Promised Land that she has constructed in her room from collected discarded scraps--the Land of Decoration. Where others might see rubbish, Judith sees possibility and divinity in even the strangest traces left behind. As ominous forces disrupt the peace in her and Father's modest lives--a strike threatens her father's factory job, and the taunting at school slips into dangerous territory--Judith makes a miracle in the Land of Decoration that solidifies her blossoming convictions. She is God's chosen instrument. But the heady consequences of her newfound power are difficult to control and may threaten the very foundations of her world.
    With its intensely taut storytelling and crystalline prose, The Land of Decoration is a gripping, psychologically complex story of good and evil, belonging and isolation, which casts new and startling light on how far we'll go to protect the things we love most.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateMar 27, 2012
    ISBN9780805095272
    Author

    Grace Mccleen

    GRACE MCCLEEN is an author and singer who lives in London. The Land of Decoration is her first novel. Visit her online at www.gracemccleen.com.

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    Reviews for The Land of Decoration

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    • 4/5
      The Land of Decoration is in the Bible but it's also a mini world made out of rubbish by 10 year old, Judith McPherson. She lives with her father and they are part of a religious organisation, which sounds a bit like Jehovah's Witnesses. One day, after a preacher visits the church, Judith thinks she can make miracles happen by using her model world to act things out.This is a very accomplished first novel and I think the writer really captures the voice of Judith. I wouldn't say it's the best book I've ever read but it pretty much held my interest throughout. I sympathised with Judith and her father when their lives were troubled, which they are throughout most of the book and there were parts of the book that made me smile. Overall, this is a well-written story with unusual characters and clever dialogue.
    • 3/5
      I didn't enjoy the beginning of this book at all but that changed with the introduction of Mrs Pierce and her very clever put-downs of Neil Lewis. I found Judith's relationship with her father very interesting and his stoicism after the death of his wife quite poignant. Judith is still a bit of a mystery to me but Mrs Pierce's concerns about her and Judith's actions towards the end of the book highlight her mental health issues.
    • 3/5
      I had a tough time getting into this one.. The problem may have been that it is written from the perspective of Judith, a 10 year old girl. I also struggled with Room by Emma Donoghue so perhaps it is me and not the book. The problem with writing from the perspective a child in my opinion, is that it is very difficult for the character to feel authentic as they either feel naive and stereotyped or they come across as entirely too mature like an Adult in a child's body. This book for me was more like the latter. Judith was a very likeable character, but she seemed far too mature and articulate for her age which became distracting to me throughout the story. I did feel that this book was well written (hence the three stars), but the story did get confusing at times. I had to re-read parts to try and understand what had just happened. Overall it was an interesting read, and despite the issues I had with it I was satisfied with the overall quality of the writing.
    • 4/5
      Using nature's debris, litter and anything else she can find, ten year old Judith builds a perfect fantasy world on the floor of her room - The Land of Decoration, a place she goes to escape from the harsh realities of school bullies, a home-life coloured by rigorous old school religion and a father still grieving for the wife he lost when Judith was born.For the first few pages, I thought this was going to be a fairly light fantasy, a cosy tale of a child who escapes cold reality in a perfect world made of found-stuff and rubbish. Not so; the story takes on much darker tones when a visiting preacher inspires Judith to try her hand at making miracles while her father is crossing the picket lines and losing his religion, and Judith's miracles appear to be working, at least on the much-hated school bully who, it seems, has home-life troubles of his own.The Land of Decoration is a well-observed and finely-written tale that's not at all what it seems on the surface. At times I was reminded of Mark Haddon, in the well-observed naiveté of a child's mind and language, and of Jeanette Winterson, in the strange, all-embracing, world-excluding religiosity that colours every moment of a friendless child's lonely life. There's a dark and terrible sadness that seeps across the narrative, a dreadful emptiness, of unheated rooms, cold lino and fly-stained, naked forty-watt bulbs - and not just for Judith, other families seem just as unhappy, all looking to fill the holes in their lives with something - drink, religion, violence, fantasy worlds...I have to say, this is nothing like the work of genius some of the testimonials on the cover would try to have you believe, but it is an absorbing, intriguing, highly original and genuinely exciting tale from a fine new writer. I can't wait to see what Grace McCleen writes next.
    • 4/5
      A ten-year-old girl, devoutly religious and emotionally estranged from her father, is bullied at school – and then more. How she and her father react to the persecution that comes because of their religion, her father’s status as a factory ‘scab’ during a major strike in the town, and the psychological twistedness of the bully and his father, forms the core story.I couldn’t stop turning the pages, but other readers may not feel the same. This book can be interpreted in many, many ways and I’m certain it will be the source of numberless discussions and widely varying reactions. 4 stars
    • 4/5
      Reason for Reading: Very intriguing plot captured my interest.This is a tough book to review. I loved parts of it and disliked other parts of it. Mainly, I adored the main character, 10yo Judith, in whose voice the narrative is written. She is naive and not always a reliable narrator but we are given events from her point of view as she sees them happen. I read the book very quickly over two days and had a hard time putting the book down. Parts of it were just lovely, other parts I heartily disagreed with. As a Christian, I don't feel the author is making a grand statement one way or the other about Christianity as a whole. I do think she is using this powerful message of father/daughter relationship, a mother's death, a girl's bullying because of her religion to show that bad things happen, even when we have the best intentions. That fanaticism of anything is never good. That God does not "let" bad things happen, we make our own choices and suffer the consequences of them, as rightly we should.Judith carries this book. She and her father belong to this unnamed religious fringe group (never named, but disclaimed to be Mormons) which is obsessed with the End Times. Otherwise they seem harmless enough, much of their Christian doctrine can be found in true Christian denominations but then it has been twisted in a way to make it what it is in this book. This may offend some Christian readers, but I take it that it is fiction and that these kind of kooky Christian sects do does exist though they are not the norm. This group for the most part follows Christ; it is its obsession with Armageddon which removes it from the focus of Christ. Non-Christians may find the book too full of Christian references, Bible quotations and simple plain Christian living; this may annoy them or unfortunately make them think this fringe group is somehow representative of "normal" Christianity.These are the things I didn't like about the book; the constant fighting in my head with the representation of these "Christians". Something profound would be said and then something equally laughable would be said. As to the story otherwise, it was very good. Judith is a naive girl who asks big questions of her father, the grown-ups at church, about religion and life. She is always asking "why?" and she is respected for her clever questions. At school it is the same, except with the other children, and one boy in particular, who bullies and teases her relentlessly because she is an outcast from them. Not allowed to attend morning assembly, wearing plain clothes, and talking easily about God, Armageddon and the Den of Iniquity of the modern world. No matter what is happening in this world around her; her being bullied, her dad being a scab, boy's taunting their house in the evening's Judith does believe in God and talks to him. He has started to answer her back and miracles have started to happen. Perhaps this is all in the confused girl's head or perhaps she is a real mystic. But you will fall in love with Judith and root for her as she tries to cope with a sad life that left her motherless and alone with a father who does everything he can for her but does not know how to show love and affection. This book is going to take some time for me to ruminate on before I really decide whether I think it was just OK or Good. I did like it; I'm just not sure how much. The ending was underwhelming and with all the religion/God emphasis throughout I expected something more uplifting than what we were given. The book did have some moments of sage wisdom and at other times I was left shaking me head. The instructions for making a hot air balloon, I do understand their significance but as an ending it leaves one dumbstruck. If you love stories about people pondering the purposes of God in their lives this will be the book for you.
    • 4/5
      Grace McCleen has written an extraordinary debut novel. The problem is that it is difficult to speak of The Land of Decoration without inadvertently spoiling its impact for future readers. I am, however, going to give it a shot.The book’s central character is little Judith McPherson. Judith is a precocious ten-year-old whose life centers around her belief that she and her father are living in the end days. Because time is running out for the world, Judith and her father regularly knock on the doors of strangers hoping to convince a few of them that they need to change their lives before it is too late. That the McPhersons are seen as neighborhood kooks is bad enough. A much worse problem for Judith is that her religious ways have caught the attention of the class bully, a kid determined to make every minute she spends in school as miserable as possible. Until Judith’s ineffective teacher is replaced by a long term substitute, she does not stand a chance against the bully and his pals. But, when the new teacher’s efforts to protect Judith from the little monster only make things worse, Judith comes up with a plan of her own. For such a little girl, Judith is a big-picture person. Her plan, one she stumbles into by accident, is as dangerous as it is effective. Then, when Judith realizes that the plan has serious side effects, side effects that often blow up in the face of her and her father, she decides it is time to stop. But will she be allowed to stop before it is too late? Are things out of her hands now?The Land of Decoration is one of those books that can be read on several levels, a book whose meaning will vary from reader to reader. It is about the relationship between a little, single-parent girl and her father, a relationship that is often strained and confusing to the child. It is about what happens when a child suffers a personal crisis and none of the adults in her world take her hinted pleas for help seriously. It explores the power of hardcore religious faith to dominate every waking moment of true believers, even – maybe especially - children. Simply put, there is a lot going on in The Land of Decoration, certainly much more than appears at first glance.As Judith works her way through a personal crisis that would bring many adults to their knees in despair, the reader will begin to wonder what is real and what is not. Judith McPherson is such a special little girl that it is easy to believe that what she describes is as real as the clothes she puts on every morning. But Judith McPherson is such a “special” little girl that it is easy to believe that she is losing her grip on reality. Readers will have to decide for themselves.As for me, I remain somewhat mystified by Judith McPherson.Rated at: 4.0
    • 4/5
      This book was a haunting piece, that I'd highly recommend to those who enjoy a pretty bit of prose. You'll ache for the tragic character of Judith who is lost in a world of make believe designed to help her escape from taunts extreme bullying from her peers. She's raised by a single grieving father who himself doesn't live in reality and instead in a world of seemingly unwavering faith. This book is full of gorgeous descriptions, and definitely worth your time.
    • 5/5
      Every year there seems to be a book that stays with me long after I've turned the last page. And when someone asks me for a good book recommendation, it's the first one that comes to mind. The Land of Decoration - a debut novel by Grace McCleen is one of those books. Ten year old Judith McPherson lives in England with her father, her mother having passed away. She attends school, but is bullied and isolated, primarily because of the religious beliefs that she and her father follow. And sometimes Judith escapes into her own little world - one she has created in her room from rubbish. "There is a world in my room. It is made from things no one else wanted and it is made with things that were my mother's, that she left to me, and it has taken most of my life to make." She calls this world The Land of Decoration. She has taken this name from the book of Ezekiel - the land of milk and honey, a paradise for the faithful in the afterlife - The Promised Land. For Judith, it is where she will see her mother again. When Judith transforms her Land of Decoration into a snow covered blizzard and it happens in reality, she believes she is responsible. " Miracles happen because someone made them and because someone, somewhere, had faith." And she's doubly sure she's responsible as God told her she was. The bullying amplifies, as does the unrest at the factory Judith's father works at. And so does Judith's belief that she has the power to create miracles and change things. And God's voice is getting louder. I was so mesmerized by this book. I couldn't read it straight through, but had to put it down and come back later as my emotions were in a turmoil. Judith's voice was heartbreaking in so many ways. McCleen has created a character in Judith that just grabbed me and wouldn't let go. I found myself stopping to ponder many of her views. I wanted so badly to help her as she faced so much more than a ten year old should. McCleen's depictions of the other main players are just as well done. Judith's father is another poignant portrayal that was difficult to accept and read at times. McCleen's books explores so many themes - love, hate, tolerance, persecution, belief, faith and more, but ultimately is about the love between a parent and child. I wonder how much of Judith's story is Grace's story. She was raised in a fundamentalist religious environment and has a strong interest in miniatures as well. I think readers are either going to love or hate McCleen's book, much like Emma Donoghue's Room. This reader loved it. (so did Emma Donoghue)
    • 3/5
      This is an odd book to review. It was well written and hard to put down. I think the story will stay with me for a while, too. However, when I got to the end, I was confused. I read it several times and never seemed to make sense of it. Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes, to a close friend who might be able to explain it to me.
    • 4/5
      This book grabbed me from the first page. I would love to be inside McCleen's head and see if the images she painted match the ones I'm seeing. I appreciated that the book is in a 10-year-old's language--she didn't know what certain things/phrases were, unlike other books written by adults that are meant to be told by a young person. Though the story dragged a bit in the middle, it quickly picked up again. It left me wanting more, to find out what happens to Judith and her father.
    • 5/5
      Judith McPherson is the ten-year-old voice of the story. Clever, sweet-intentioned most of the time, albeit confused and displaying some questionable behavior, she believes her father doesn’t love her.Judith has created a secret miniature world in her bedroom, made from the discarded scraps of everyday life. A quiet girl without friends her own age, she lives through the landscape and citizens of her handmade world.Judith’s life is made miserable and difficult by a school bully by the name of Neil Lewis.Her only solace in life is found in her relationship with God. Although the religion is never named in the book, it seems evident to me that the fictional religion is based on that of Jehovah’s Witnesses or something very similar.Making them Witnesses-like is an effective way to reinforce that Judith is in her own world, as Witnesses believe that they are “no part of this world” and keep themselves apart from the rest of society in their personal lives. This helped to strengthen the image of Judith as being a part of her handmade “Land of Decoration” in her bedroom more so than the world outside her door.Throughout the story, you are never quite sure whether Judith is delusional, or whether her life is full of coincidence. What is real, and what is in her head? But you continually want to take her in your arms and offer her solace.There is some vulgarity and crudity, but it is by no means gratuitous. It is kind of hard to have low-life bullies without it.My final word: I was in love with this book and little Judith McPherson before I finished page 1! As the story went on, I found that there were moments that inspired an almost visceral response. You find yourself thinking "no, no, no!" You find yourself pulling for this confused little girl at odds with herself and the world, trying to find balance with her otherwise rocky existence. Probably about three-quarters of the way through my love affair faded slightly, but I found it picked up again before long, and in the end I loved this story. I loved Judith.
    • 3/5
      I don’t mind books that are sad or maybe even a little bit dark. They’re like a rainy day, grey and melancholy but with the assurance that the sun will shine again. But “The Land of Decoration” goes well beyond that and I found it almost unbearable to read. It’s like a hurricane - relentless and terrifying and destructive. When I finished this book, I felt destroyed and devastated. Everything about ten-year-old Judith’s life is depressing. Her mother died when she was born, her father is emotionally distant, they are members of a cult/sect with disturbingly bizarre members, she’s bullied at school, she has no friends. Her only refuge is the Land of Decoration, an imaginary world she creates out of bits of found things, but even this becomes something sinister as Judith descends into a kind of crazed religious mania. But the thing is, Grace McCleen is unquestionably talented. She perfectly captures the voice of this tortured girl, the characterizations are rich, the descriptions are vivid, the storytelling is compelling, the pacing is exactly right. And she presents a convincing argument that skewed religious beliefs can create the exact opposite of what true faith is about.
    • 5/5
      Ten-year-old Judith McPherson (her given name hints at her fierce mythic power) has a secret: God speaks to her. Loudly. The rigid yet salvific God of the sect that rules the McPherson family's lives turns out to be considerably more unpredictable when chatting with young Judith, and Judith is learning that using "divine" power has consequences that no ten-year-old could predict. Grace McCleen's debut novel is fascinating, disturbing, funny, troubling. Does God really talk to Judith, or have the traumas of her life (the death of her mother, her distant, angry father, the endless bullying she endures at school) made her crazy? Is she finally moving from utter impotence to near-omnipotence, or have the events of her life finally slid completely out of control? McCleen is deft at feeding only scraps of the answers, and leaving the reader to ponder all the big questions. There's tragedy here, and comedy, and ultimately a lot of thought about the nature of God, faith, humanity, and the way life requires us to act without having a clue that we may be setting off an avalanche of unforeseen consequences. I thought about Judith's story for days after I finished reading it, and that is exactly how I like stories to go. More, please, Grace McCleen.Thanks to the LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program for my copy of The Land of Decoration!
    • 4/5
      What a wonderful book. Short chapters keep in fast-paced and the tension builds at the perfect rate as the story continues. One thing that really struck me, was the throw-away creativity of the author. McCleen comes up with tales her heroine creates, just little snippets, but frankly, they're amazing stories in their own right - albeit for children. One example that's still clear in my mind is the story of the dragon that wants to smell the roses, but every time he tries, he accidentally chars them. There are at least two or three more story ideas like that....but that's such a tiny aspect of this wonderful book - I don't want to be misleading. The heroine is wonderful, the story is great, the writing is great. The only thing keeping me from giving an extra 1/2 star are the typos. For a little while, I was marking them as I came across them, but they were normally every page, so I stopped. Sometimes just a punctuation mark out of place, other times two or three words repeated. I hope they've got things ironed out for the actual store release, because it really is a wonderful work and it would be a shame to have it dragged down by 11th hour carelessness.
    • 4/5
      The Land of Decoration is the compelling story of Judith McPherson, a young girl raised by her widowed father. Both are members of an eccentric fellowship who believes the end of world is at hand, and they spend time spreading the world of the impending apocalypse in hopes that others will repent and be saved. Judith attends public school where she is bullied by a cruel group of boys to the point where she fears for her life. In her spare time she creates her idealic "Land of Decoration" from rubbish and debris, making a model city complete with buildings, automobiles, people, and animals. As she becomes more and more distressed, she begins to hear the voice of God and believes that she has been given special powers to perform miracles. At first this power seems to be a blessing, but Judith soon begins to fear the repercussions.Overall, the story moves along at a good pace, the dialog is engaging, and the characters are interesting. Judith's father is the only character who really bothered me, as he was not as solidly crafted as the others. He was an odd mixture of different sterotypes - grieving widow, distant father, poor working man and left field religious follower - and none of them were fully realized. Judith's interactions with him left me confused as to who he was and what his motives were.Another distraction with the books is the frequent errors in the manuscript, and while I realize this was an advanced review copy, there seemed to be errors on every page which created some confusion and had me re-reading sections that would not have been necessary if it had been more throughly proofed.This book would make an excellent selection for a book club.
    • 3/5
      Judith McPherson is a young motherless girl growing up with an extremely devout father. She is made fun of at school and doesn't really fit in anywhere. To escape from this reality, she creates her own reality of a world made of junk in her room. It is her escape from real life. Judith soons comes to believe that she speaks directly with God and is able to make things happen in the real world by manipulating her "junk" world.
    • 4/5
      The premise of The Land of Decoration is intriguing. It is narrated in first-person by Judith, a lonely, young girl being raised in a religion that believes the end of the world coming soon. She has created an entire world in her bedroom, constructed of paper, felt, clay, and other found materials, and it is populated it with tiny people, animals, scenery, buildings, etc. As the story progresses, she believes that she has been given special powers by God to perform miracles. The questions in the story would be great for a discussion group - is Judith completely sane or completely deluded? How do children develop in extremely isolated environments? Could God possibly talk directly to people? The characters in the story are well developed - her Father is haunting and complicated, a school bully named Neil Lewis is deviously cruel, and a special school teacher is a wonderful, sympathic person and a true relief after all the other bizarre, cold, and negative people in Judith's life. The members of the church group are especially strange.I think Grace McCleen has created a unique novel with an interesting, British flavor. It was a compelling read for the most part. But personally, I ended up wishing for a bit more depth by the end of the book. There were moments of excellent, evocative writing, but by the end, the plot and the ending seemed to wear a bit thin.
    • 3/5
      I'm really not sure what I think of this book. The young ten year old, Judith, was wonderful and I so hated to read about her bullying in school. Religious fervor and faith is all she knows, her whole bedroom reflects this and this makes her a freak at school. Her and her father their church is the only family she has. She believes she is peaking to God and creating miracles. The book actually gets pretty dark but I'm not sure I at all like the resolution. It i well written but somehow confusing at the same time. Can't really explain how I feel as I have never read anything with which it compares. Strange and interesting, showing the many conflicting views of faith..
    • 4/5
      I received this book as my first early reviewers book ever from Library Thing. I really enjoyed this book and tore through it pretty fast! I dont really agree with the way the author portrayed God though. I think that most people who dont read the BIBLE will get the wrong idea about HIM. There were also ALOT of grammatical errors throughout the entire book. I mean ALOT! I would have given a higher rating if not for those. It was almost like they were in a big hurry to get the book out. All in all it was a very touching story and I have already passed it along to my friend!
    • 4/5
      Grace McCleen has given us a beautifully written story of ten year old Judith McPherson. Judith has been brought up in a small, poor town by her stern and humorless father who belongs to a strict fundamentalist religion. This small group of believers are Judith’s only family. We find out slowly throughout the book what happened to her mother and find that Judith carries this guilt wrapped around her like an old blanket. Because of her faith she is not allowed to participate in assemblies at school and her father is known for going door to door throughout the town teaching that the end of the world is right around the corner. Because of this she has become the target of several bullies at school, primarily one boy named Neil. In order to escape from the cold and seemingly loveless relationship with her father and the problems at school she has created a world in her room called the Land of Decoration. She has made it from all sorts of rubbish, clay, pipe cleaners, fabrics and any bits and pieces she can find. It is a symbol of the land she has been taught in which all believers will live after Armageddon. We begin the novel as the bullying reaches new levels. It is a Sunday evening and Judith is afraid to go to school in the morning as Neil has threatened to put her head down a toilet and she fears she will die. She tries to think of a way to stop this and remembers that snow once caused school to be cancelled. So she thinks about snow and creates snow in her Land of Decoration. The Voice first appears here, one that will at first appear to Judith to be the voice of God, but will later take on aspects that bring this into question. When she awakes the next morning her town is covered with piles of unpredicted snow and she believes that she has caused this miracle, the first of many. Judith is wise beyond her years and sees life simply in black and white, but as the book moves along and she finds the miracles have a life of their own, and that she cannot always control them life takes on many shades of gray. Grace McCleen has given Judith a voice that comes through as thought provoking and truthful. Her descriptions are moving and will catch at your heart. Judith looks at ordinary things through not so ordinary eyes and introduces us to a world with sumptuous clarity. She sees a life beneath the ordinary teeming with colors and movement, where ordinary things take on unordinary features. The story moves along quickly and Judith must decide whether to listen to the Voice or her own convictions. We learn along with Judith, what lengths she will go to in order to try to repair the damage her miracles may have done. It is a story about the strength of faith and parent -child relationships , good and evil. Truly a wonderful read.
    • 5/5
      An excellent book! The story is written in the voice of 10 year old Judith who is being raised by her father who is still grieving for his wife who died giving birth to Judith. They are members of an extreme Christian sect who feel obligated to tell the world that the end of the world is coming soon. Judith is an extremely bright child with a delightful imagination which supports her until many problems arise. Since her father is not demonstrative she feels he does not love her because her birth caused her mother's death. She is teased and isolated from her schoolmates and her vivid imagination and her strange conception of God lead her to believe she can cause miracles and also disaster. This is such a strong combination of imagination, fantasy, faith, guilt, and family love and Judith must deal with it on her own. The writing is deep and insightful and I feel that I will go back and reread this book for the things that I missed the first time.
    • 2/5
      I found this book a little lacking in focus. It is the story of Judith a 10 year old girl raised in a Christian sect which believes in the coming of Armageddon. She creates a world out of gums wrappers and other bits of detritus which represents the paradise which will occur after the end of the world. As pressures mount at school and home she begins to hear the voice of god, or perhaps to have auditory hallucinations and to believe she can perform miracles. The miracles begin to go awry not having the results she expects and her world begins to fall apart. At the very end of the book disaster is averted. I found the degree of distress Judith experiences justified so to speak by any value or reward from the story and the ending of the book too neat.
    • 5/5
      Judith McPherson is 10 years old, living with her father in a small town in England,  when she becomes the target of a school bully, Neil Lewis. Judith is different from her peers, mainly due to her religious upbringing, which centers on an impending Armageddon. To escape the loneliness, Judith constructs her own version of The Land of Decoration - a representation of what the world will look like after Armageddon.As Judith deals with Neil, she becomes inspired by the words of a guest speaker at her church. He talks at length about having faith in God and the power of miracles.  That evening, as she dreads the next school day, she contemplates the Brother Michael’s words. Judith decides to wish for snow, and she sets out to make fake snow on her Land of Decoration, praying the whole time. As she prays, she begins to hear a voice, pushing her to pray more. When she wakes up the next morning, her town is covered in snow.Judith, believing that she performed a miracle, now sets her sights on Neil. However, as bad things happen, Judith realizes that power can lead to destruction. Eventually her actions begin to affect her father, and as he begins to lose faith in God, Judith's love for her father and God are put to the ultimate test.The Land of Decoration is a fast-paced, moving novel that sucks you in from the first word. Judith is a believable and sympathetic character, and her father is equally compelling. Seeing the world through Judith's eyes reminds you of how innocent and vulnerable children are.I am not a believer in Armageddon, so I wasn't sure if I would like this novel. I am so glad I read it, despite my reservations, because The Land of Decoration is so much more than a novel about Armageddon. It’s a story of faith, parental love and doing the right thing – themes that can resonate with any reader, despite your religious persuasion.
    • 3/5
      This is a story of many parts encompassing the frequently fraught relationship between a father and his daughter set against a backdrop of manic religious fervour and the stress of strike action with a pinch of fantasy thrown in for good measure - a heady mix indeed!Ten year old Judith McPherson leads a rather isolated life with her widowed father. Their routine revolves around their strong religious conviction that the End Times are approaching fast but such faith won't be a match for the bullies at Judith's school - or will it? Could Judith's model of the Promised Land, the Land of Decoration save her from the brutality of the real world? Whilst Judith focuses on her own daily struggles, her father is facing his demons too as he defies the union and joins the much hated scabs. Previously held beliefs and certainties are shaken and torn apart as the McPhersons' lives hurtle out of control.There's no doubt about it, this is an unusual novel. At first it seems almost childlike in tone, with our young narrator Judith concoting her imaginary Promised Land out of old sweetie wrappers and cotton wool. However, as the narrative develops, the atmosphere becomes darker and more sinister as Judith becomes more and more convinced of her miraculous powers. It does get slightly confusing at times, spoiling the reading experience somewhat but I guess this serves to mirror Judith's own distress and confusion of fantasy and realityWith hints of Jeanette Winterson's Oranges are Not the Only Fruit (the religious extremism bits!), I found this a challenging, strangely enjoyable read and a promising debut but not quite the miraculous masterpiece the blurb would have you believe.

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    The Land of Decoration - Grace Mccleen

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