A Children's Bible | Lydia Millet

I picked this up after reading, and loving Dinosaurs. It's a very different kind of story. A group of families--parents are friends from college--gather at a beach house. The parents spend their time talking, eating and drinking. The children, mostly teenagers, spend their time avoiding their parents to the point of not admitting which adults are their parents. For their part, the parents avoid the children and seem to have just abdicated all responsibility for them for the duration. Things get scary when a huge storm hits the area, stranding the children away from the house, and knocking out communication everywhere. This is a climate-centered story.

Millet is a gifted writer, but the story in this slim volume was very unsettling. I'm typically a fast reader but I didn't feel compelled to read this quickly. There are no true heroes in this story and I found it uncomfortable to read for a long time. That said, I keep thinking back to the story, wondering how the parents got the way they were, and how the children were even able to take care of themselves with such horrible role models. The title comes from a book that the narrator's younger brother carried with him.

The children are the most resourceful in the crisis and find a truly responsible adult who guides them to what they hoped would be a safe location. Even when threatened by vigilantes, they keep their acts together. The parents continue their listless existence.

I found the end of the book unsatisfying and frankly depressing. I'd like to read more Millet to see more of what she can do with her stories.