A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
The daughter of one of the South's most famous Black evangelical Baptist preachers discovers a shocking secret about her father that puts her at odds with both her faith and her family in this "spellbinding" debut literary novel that "should be read alongside Alice Walker's The Color Purple and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus" (The Washington Post).
Every summer, fifteen-year-old Miriam Horton and her family pack themselves tight in their old minivan and travel through small southern towns for revival season: the time when Miriam's father-one of the South's most famous preachers-holds massive faith-healing services for people desperate to be cured of ailments and disease. But, this summer, the revival season doesn't go as planned, and after one service in which Reverend Horton's healing powers are tested like never before, Miriam witnesses a shocking act of violence that shakes her belief in her father-and her faith.
When the Hortons return home, Miriam's confusion only grows as she discovers she might have the power to heal-even though her father and the church have always made it clear that such power is denied to women. Over the course of the following year, Miriam must decide between her faith, her family, and her newfound power that might be able to save others, but if discovered by her father, could destroy Miriam.
Celebrating both feminism and faith, Revival Season is a "tender and wise" (Ann Patchett) story of spiritual awakening and disillusionment amid church patriarchy in a Southern, Black, Evangelical community. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Monica West received her BA from Duke University, her MA from New York University, and her MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop where she was a Rona Jaffe Graduate Fellow. She was a Southern Methodist University Kimbilio Fellow in 2014, and she will be a Hedgebrook Writer in Residence in 2021. Revival Season is her first novel. "Joniece Abbott–Pratt's performance captures the fear and exhilaration of 15-year-old Miriam Horton as she travels the revival circuit with her family. Abbott–Pratt narrates in a fast-paced style that suits the high emotions of revival meetings, which are the focus of the plot. She expertly emulates Miriam's troubled voice when things go wrong. Miriam's famous father, a boxer turned preacher, travels the Deep South to save souls and heal the sick. But when the autocratic preacher/healer loses his gift, a brutal side of him emerges. Ironically, the spiritual gift remains in the family-Miriam herself becomes a faith healer. As the plot etches a story of patriarchy at its worst, the listener feels Miriam's pain and sees the harsh Preacher Horton for who he is."
