Ten-year-old Judith McPherson is a believer. Her world is carefully constructed around her faith: nightly scripture reading with her father, weekly gatherings at the Meeting Hall and daily proselytizing to the lost. With no TV and no books “of the world” to entertain her, she passes time by creating the Land of Decoration, a model in miniature of the Promised Land which she has made of discarded scraps— divine treasures that she squirrels away.

But Judith’s troubles are mounting. At school, Neil Lewis’s relentless terrorizing has reached a feverish, dangerous pitch, and in town, a strike threatens the factory where her father works. One Sunday night, terrified of the violence that awaits her in the school halls on Monday, Judith conjures a snowstorm in the Land of Decoration made of shaving cream, cotton and cellophane. The next morning the ground outside her window is a crisp, dazzling white. Judith can perform miracles. In fact, she might just be God’s chosen instrument. But with power comes weighty consequences, and Judith must face them head-on to keep her faith—and her family—alive.

GRACE MCCLEEN studied English Literature at Oxford University and The University of York before becoming a full-time writer and musician. She lives in London. The Land Of Decoration is her first novel.

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?Grace McCleen's writing is deep, fantastical and powerful. . . . This is a wonderful gem of a debut novel.? — THE INDEPENDENT

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