Books Set in North America: American Mid-West

Your Sins and Mine: The Terrifying Fable of a World Without Faith, by Taylor Caldwell (1955)

This book was published in 1955 and is set in the mid-1950s during the Cold War.  Political tensions are high between the United States and the Communist countries.  This is the background of this dystopian novel.

The novel is narrated by Pete, a young farmer, who lives with his family somewhere in middle America.  His family consists of his wife, his parents, his brother and his brother’s family.  His brother was blinded in Korea, so his farm chores are limited.  The patriarch is a deeply religious man who can quote the Bible almost by heart.

The novel begins when the father notices changes in weather patterns.  At first he just silently noticed the changes.  Then the lack of rain becomes obvious.  The earth becomes parched and the crops dry up.  Winter comes, but no snow falls.  The lakes and rivers are not replenished.

Then, where the fields were once lush with growing wheat and corn, thorny weeds begin to take over the grounds.  The weeds are so thick that it becomes impossible to walk through them.  They must be continually trimmed to avoid entering the house.  The weeds give off a toxic sulfurous fog which encompasses the countryside.  Soon poisonous scorpion-like critters inundate the land ~ critters whose sting means instant death.

In the cities, the shelves are bare, as the food source from the farms has dried up.  The government keeps silent.  No one knows what is going on and the government’s silence only brings further terror.  Riots ensue.  No one knows that all around the world the people are experiencing similar draughts and famines.

One day, in desperation, Pete falls to his knees and silently makes a prayer.  Suddenly, the circle of weeds around him wither away and grass begins to grow.  The city people and the government are convinced that Pete and his family have some sort of special chemical that can make the weeds dissipate.  People are slowly dying from starvation and are convinced that the farmers are hording stores of food.

There is only one thing that can save the people, and the world, but it is something that each person must discover on his own.

Knowing that this novel was written during the Cold War gives this novel some perspective.  It is interesting, however, that the theme of government keeping the truth from populous never really goes away.

The book was interesting, but not one of my favorites by Taylor Caldwell.

Read:  March 14, 2020

3 Stars