In the Shadow of the Ark - Tapa blanda

Re Jana and her parents have heard stories about a man building an enormous ship in the desert, and decide to leave their home to go there and find work. Re Jana, an attractive girl on the verge of adulthood, teaches the people the benefits of pure clean water and fragrant oils. Ham, Noah's youngest son, succumbs to her charms, confiding in Re Jana that his god intends to submerge the world and that only Noah and his family will be saved. When the Flood finally arrives, Re Jana is smuggled on-board by Ham. When at last the ship runs aground, a pregnant Re Jana realises she will be instrumental in founding a new dynasty in a new world.

Anne Provoost was born in 1964. She lives with her husband and three young children in Antwerp, Belgium. She studied Literature and Pedagogics at the University of Louvain and spent a year and a half in the United States after her studies. She writes in Dutch, but has been translated into more than nine languages. Her books include My Aunt is a Pilot Whale, Falling (which was made into a feature film) and The Rose and the Swine, which won the Golden Kiss in the Netherlands. The latter two titles were both IBBY Honor books. In the course of her writing career, Provoost has received practically every major literary award for works in the Dutch language. She was elected a member of The Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature in 2003. www.anneprovoost.com