The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen
The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen is the author’s debut novel, published by Vintage Books.
Synopsis
Ten-year-old Judith’s lives a very unusual life for a young girl. When she’s not at school, her spare time is filled with reading from the Bible and warning people about the forthcoming Armageddon. As well as that, she’s creating a city out of rubbish in her bedroom while talking to God. Faith has been the backbone of her life, and she has never known any different. She keeps quiet, cooks and spreads the word of God, all to keep her father happy.
Due to her unique lifestyle, her school life is troubled. One bully, in particular, is hell-bent on making her life a complete misery. When she is playing with her city of rubbish, she conjures up ways she can avoid going to school the next day and avoid the unwelcome attention of her bully. It just needs to snow. She’s compelled to cover her homemade city in cotton, feathers and glue to make it look like a winter wonderland, then collapses into a deep sleep. The next morning she awakes to find a blanket of snow smothering her town. Was it a coincidence or did she perform a miracle?
She decides she needs to test her new gift. She creates a model of her neighbour’s lost cat, and soon the beloved feline returns home. Now she is certain of her gift. Although her confidence begins to grow, the bullying continues to worsen. To make things worse, her father is labelled a ‘scab’ for continuing to work during a union strike and attacks start on their home. Does Judith really have the ability to perform miracles or has her actions simply antagonised an already stressful situation?
The Land of Decoration review
This book is utterly unique. I have never read anything like it before, and even though I was wary of a religion-based book, I adored it.
There were moments that make for uncomfortable reading. You feel the young girl is so repressed and controlled in a world filled with adults, she isn’t having a chance to enjoy being young. You can’t help but feel sorry for a girl whose wildest dreams go as far as riding a Ferris wheel and eating fish and chips. Her father is also a very evocative character. Although his actions throughout the novel are logical and understandable, the lack of emotion he has for his daughter is utterly infuriating.
With philosophical undertones, moments of surrealism and expertly crafted characters this book is as thought-provoking as it is enjoyable. Be prepared to utterly fall for this little girl. You’ll be cheering her on until the last chapter where you’ll be thinking… “is she really going to go through with it?”
This is an excellent debut and one I enjoyed every page of. I will definitely be looking out for more from Grace McCleen in the future.
If you like The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen, you’ll love The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donell.
Buy The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen