Clouds Without Water tells the story of the small town of Cavalry in 1844. Their prodigal minister returns with a message, the world will be ending imminently. All must repent and renounce their earthly possessions. Some of the townspeople fall to their knees immediately and spend their days in prayer abandoning their businesses, farms and daily life. Others are incredulous and while peer pressure is strong, they carry on although business gets much harder with lots of the town shuttered. But when the apocalypse fails to come, the screws really press in with blame falling on those who resisted the tide in the first place.
Garry Harper captures perfectly, the fervor, which quickly turns into mob hysteria. It was so convincing at times, that I found myself wondering about my own religious practices. It does feel like a slippery slope sometimes. How do you balance living with preparing for heaven?Generally that is an individual choice, at least in this day and age…. not so much in the 1880’s. The story focuses in on one small family and the heartache they go through, it’s just unbelievable. The things that humans will do in the name of God is often jaw-dropping. I appreciated that this story balanced the truth of what happened in the small town, yet made it infinitely.
Thanks to the author for the gifted copy. All opinions above are my own.
What cult has had you the most intrigued?
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