The Land of Decoration [Hardcover]

Grace McCleen's debut novel, "The Land of Decoration" paints an original, unsettling, sometimes dark and generally rather wonderful picture. Narrated by ten year old Judith, raised by her father who is a fundamental religious follower of the end of the world is nigh variety, it looks at bullying, both at school and in more general society, faith and the possible rejection thereof and the strength of childhood imagination.

The Land of Decoration of the title is Judith's model society built from bits of rubbish which she imagines as the biblical post-end of the world nirvana where she and her father will again be reunited with her mother. It's intricately modeled including life-like people, and based on their own valley town. Its origin is clearly in the religious views of her father but also represents a safe place that Judith's imagination can run riot, particularly when she is threatened and bullied at school. However, when Judith wishes for snow to cancel school to avoid a promised beating from the class bully by invoking snow in her imaginary world, the unseasonable snow of the following day leads her to believe that she has the power to work miracles.

There are two potential pitfalls here for the unwary debut novelist, both of which McCleen avoids with great style. Firstly there's the issue of a child narrator. Handled badly, this can be nauseating, but Judith's voice is consistently believable retaining charm without becoming overly sentimental. Her struggle to understand the working of the world around her, which is particularly unusual in her case, is moving and realistic.

Secondly, there is the religious content. Her father's faith is of the variety that most of us cross the street to avoid. They are the fundamentalist type who knock on people's doors to warn of the impending end of the world and encourage us to embrace the Lord. It's uncomfortable to read of the power this has over an impressionable child. While Judith believes that she may be invoking miracles, there is always a reasonable explanation to these events in the real world. There's also great subtlety in the handling of how those from her father's church react to her belief in miracles which hits to the hypocritical views here. So too with her father's changing stance that antagonism to their message is to be embraced until it starts to genuinely threaten his livelihood and family. Judith's imaginary conversations with God may offend some while the ultimate rejection of faith may not be others' tastes.

While the publisher's blurb about the author tells you very little, this is one of the few instances where it's well worth clicking through to the writer's own website. There, you will learn not only that McCleen was herself brought up in a fundamentalist religion and didn't have much contact with non-believers and that she was taken out of school at the age that Judith is in this book, but also that she made intricate and quite beautiful model "little people" as a child some which are shown on the site. Part of the success of this authentic voice then appears to be that she has followed the dictum of "write what you know". I checked this out about half way through reading the book and it gave me goose-bumps.

As another slight aside, it's also notable that this is another beautiful hardback edition. It seems one of the laws of unintended consequences of the e-book revolution is that publishers are making hardbacks in particular more desirable to encourage sales. A small victory for the luddites amongst us.

"The Land of Decoration" is a relatively quick read, with lots of short chapters, and with a real sense of tension in the story's development. Yes, at times its dark and unsettling, but its full of charm and humour too and your heart goes out to Judith who is trying to make sense of her strange and complicated world. Perhaps when she grows up, she will write a book as original as this one is.

We read, "My name is Judith McPherson. I am ten years old. On Monday a miracle happened. That is what I'm going to call it. And I did it all." Now, that's an extraordinary statement for anyone to make, let alone a little girl. But then, The Land of Decoration is an extraordinary story. It is affecting, profound, unforgettable.

Judith is a precocious schoolgirl who is growing up with her Bible reading/quoting widowed father among Christian fundamentalists who believe Armageddon is just around the corner. She's ostracized and bullied by her classmates because of her beliefs. Judith finds comfort in her room, a place where she has created a world with objects she has found and bits of junk - a shoelace is a garden hose, rivers are made of crepe paper, plastic wrap and tinfoil, houses are made with chocolate-dip-cookie cartons, matchboxes. After she has finished her make believe world Judith borrows from Ezekiel, looks at it and sees that it is good.

It is in this atmosphere that Judith reaches the conclusion that she can talk with God, actually carry on a conversation. Not only that but she believes that she can perform miracles by rearranging or changing her small world. What she believes to be her first miracle is a surprising snow storm that closes the roads and school. Thus, she is protected from an especially frightening bully. However, as time passes the bully and his friends become more aggressive in their actions against the McPherson's and Judith escalates her "miraculous" happenings.

In time Judith learns there are consequences involved in the choices she has made. Now, what can she or should she do?

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke

I jumped at the chance of reading and reviewing this when it showed up on a recent Amazon Vine newsletter. It's 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 reality

With 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.