Down from the Mountain
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Fourteen year-old Eva tries to be a good disciple of Righteous Path, a polygamy cult in Colorado, but her forays into the "heathen world" cause her to question all she knows.
Eva wants to be a good disciple of Righteous Path. She grew up knowing that she's among the chosen few to be saved from Armageddon. Lately, though, being saved feels awfully treacherous. Ever since they moved to the compound in Colorado, their food supplies have dwindled while their leader, Ezekiel, has stockpiled weapons. The only money comes from the jewelry Eva makes and sells in town—a purpose she'll serve until she becomes one of Ezekiel's wives. But a college student named Trevor and the other "heathens" she meets on her trips beyond the compound are far different from what she's been led to believe. Now Eva doesn't know which is more dangerous—the outside world or Reverend Ezekiel's plans.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
All Eva has known since age five is the world of the Righteous Path and the word of Reverend Ezekiel. When Eva's mother took her away from her father and her home in Chicago to join the itinerant congregation, neither anticipated the way their bond with each other would be severed, the brutal punishments they would face, or the reverend's intention to marry Eva. Now nearly 15, Eva learns she must leave school to sell her jewelry to outsiders or the Righteous Path will starve. Fixmer (Saint Training) draws on her experience counseling former religious cult members to create believable and detailed accounts of Eva's encounters with the "heathen" world. When Eva meets college student Trevor, his curiosity about her beliefs sparks her own questions. Eva faces difficult choices when the Reverend begins buying guns, one member flees, and her mother's pregnancy complications turn dire. Fixmer's references to C.S. Lewis's Narnia books persuasively contrast the image of a loving god against the harshness of Reverend Ezekiel in this absorbing and smartly paced novel. Ages 13 up.
