By the late twenty-first century, civilization has nearly been destroyed by overpopulation, economic chaos, horrific disease, and a global war that brought a devastating nuclear winter. On the Oregon coast, two women-writer Mary Hope and painter Rachel Morrow-embark on an audacious project to help save future generations: the preservation of books, both their own and any they can find at nearby abandoned houses. For years, they labor in solitude. Then they encounter a young man who comes from a group of survivors in the South. They call their community the Ark. Rachel and Mary see the possibility of civilization rising again. But they realize with trepidation that the Arkites believe in only one book-the Judeo-Christian bible-and regard all other books as blasphemous. And those who go against the word of God must be cleansed from the Earth

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