The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen

In the beginning there was an empty room, a little bit of space, a little bit of light, a little bit of time.

I said: 'I am going to make fields,' and I made them from table mats, carpet, brown corduroy and felt. Then I made rivers from crepe paper, cling film and shiny tinfoil and mountains from papier mache and bark. And I looked at the fields and I looked at the rivers and I looked at the mountains and I saw they were good.

Judith and her father don't have much - their house is full of dusty relics, reminders of the mother she's never known. But Judith sees the world with the clear Eyes of Faith, and where others might see rubbish, Judith sees possibility. Bullied at school, she finds solace in making a model of the Promised Land - little people made from pipe cleaners, a sliver of moon, luminous Stars and a mirror sea - a world of wonder that Judith calls The Land of Decoration. Perhaps, she thinks, if she makes it snow indoors (using shaving foam and cotton wool and cellophane) there will be no school on Monday...

Sure enough, when Judith opens her curtains the next day, the world beyond her window has turned white. She has performed her first miracle. And that's when her troubles begin.

With its intensely taut storytelling and gorgeous prose, The Land of Decoration is a heartbreaking story of good and evil, belief and doubt. It's author, Grace McCleen, is a blazing new talent in Contemporary literature. 

Genres: Contemporary - Religion - Fantasy - Literary Fiction - Magical Realism - Drama
Condition: Very good
Published: 2012 by Chatto & Windus
Pages: 291
ISBN: 9780701186821
Weight: 410g