"Clouds Without Water" by Garry Harper, available as an audiobook narrated by the author himself, offers a gripping narrative inspired by historical events from The Millerite Movement and The Great Disappointment.

Set in the quaint town of Cavalry in 1844, the novel unfolds with the return of a prodigal minister bearing a prophetic message: the imminent end of the world. In response, some townsfolk succumb to fervent belief, abandoning their worldly possessions to fervently pray for salvation. Others, however, remain sceptical despite mounting peer pressure. As the anticipated apocalypse fails to materialize, blame and recrimination fracture the community, particularly targeting those who resisted the initial wave of hysteria.

Harper adeptly captures the escalating fervour that engulfs the town, deftly portraying the transformation of faith into mob hysteria. The narrative prompts introspection, inviting readers to contemplate the delicate balance between earthly existence and spiritual preparation.
At its core, "Clouds Without Water" revolves around the experiences of a single-family navigating the tumultuous terrain of belief and disillusionment. Through their struggles, Harper unveils the extremes to which humanity is willing to go in pursuit of divine validation.

What distinguishes "Clouds Without Water" is its ability to intertwine historical accuracy with narrative depth, offering a nuanced examination of faith and its consequences. The story serves as a poignant reminder of the complexities inherent in religious fervour, urging readers to reflect on their own beliefs and practices.

In conclusion, "Clouds Without Water" is a compelling and thought-provoking audiobook that sheds light on a lesser-known chapter of history. Harper's narration infuses the story with authenticity, immersing listeners in the world of Cavalry in 1844.

I sincerely thank NetGalley and Garry Harper for providing me with a copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

The book, though? I expected more, but I don't know what. I'm as interested in religions and cults during the 19th century as anyone, and I think the author could have made it more. I've seen the book described with words like "thrilling" and "gripping," but it wasn't those things.

It is an allegory that doesn't pretend to be anything else. I never had an aha moment or a paradigm shift, so it felt flat to me. Instead, it is the fictionalized story of the Millerites and the Great Disappointment.

When everyone is caught up in Rev. Miller's prediction for the end of the world, where does that leave the people who don't believe? Farmers aren't planting and shops are closing because the end is nigh. But what happens if the end of the world doesn't happen? Are the followers going to continue to be believers?

Steven Fehr did a fine job with the narration. He didn't particularly stand out for any one thing, and sometimes that's what I like in an audiobook. I like a narrator who fades into the background and lets the story do the talking.

My thanks to Garry Harper and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book really did not do it for me. It just didn't keep my attention . I found myself wandering at the preaching sections.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
A rural community is taken in by a returning preacher and his end of days message. As the fervor of his message spreads, one man tries to keep living as he had before. When the prophesied day is not fulfilled, further issues are created within the community.
This book is based on the real Millerite Movement. It is an interesting look at what happens to people when they get caught up in a movement. This book did move slowly, but part of that was needed to build up the emotions of the community.
I think this book would be good for someone interested in this historic event or historic fiction.

I just wasn't able to get into this story. I didn't finish it.

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Clouds Without Water tells the story of the small town of Cavalry in 1844. Their prodigal minister returns with a message, the world will be ending imminently. All must repent and renounce their earthly possessions. Some of the townspeople fall to their knees immediately and spend their days in prayer abandoning their businesses, farms and daily life. Others are incredulous and while peer pressure is strong, they carry on although business gets much harder with lots of the town shuttered. But when the apocalypse fails to come, the screws really press in with blame falling on those who resisted the tide in the first place.

Garry Harper captures perfectly, the fervor, which quickly turns into mob hysteria. It was so convincing at times, that I found myself wondering about my own religious practices. It does feel like a slippery slope sometimes. How do you balance living with preparing for heaven?Generally that is an individual choice, at least in this day and age…. not so much in the 1880’s. The story focuses in on one small family and the heartache they go through, it’s just unbelievable. The things that humans will do in the name of God is often jaw-dropping. I appreciated that this story balanced the truth of what happened in the small town, yet made it infinitely.

Thanks to the author for the gifted copy. All opinions above are my own.

3.5 stars

It's the mid-19th century and Calvary, New York is a farming town with God-fearing residents who attend a Baptist chapel called Calvary Church every Sunday. The church was founded by Reverend Samuel Miller, whose designated successor is his son William.

William leaves Calvary to attend the seminary, and - after the death of Reverend Samuel - the church is temporarily led by Brother Thomas Aleman. Meanwhile, William studies the scriptures for two decades, then returns to Calvary in 1844 to take his rightful place as head of the congregation.

Brother William's biblical studies convince him the End-of-Days is imminent. He preaches that every moment leading up to the End-of-Days is captured in the scriptures, and the Second Coming of Jesus will be preceded by horrors and havoc. The pastor goes on to say he's calculated the exact date of the Second Coming, which will occur in six months.....on October 22, 1844. This gives Calvary citizens a mere half-year to prepare their souls for salvation.

Some residents of Calvary subscribe to Brother William's proselytizing, while others are skeptical. Doubters include Pastor Thomas Aleman - who clandestinely tries to get the Baptist Convention to censure Brother William; Henry Smith - a widowed farmer raising three children, one of whom has severe breathing problems; and Helen Chandler - the oldest woman in Calvary and a descendant of the town's founding familes. In fact Helen declares to the congregation that Brother William is a charlatan.

Brother William's advocates feel vindicated when 'calamities' start to descend on Calvary. First, non-believer Helen and her daughter are walking down the street when lightning strikes Helen and she's killed, her flesh burned away. Champions of Brother William believe this is a sign from God. The believers' feelings are reinforced when a torrent of locusts sweeps across Calvary, devouring all the grain fit for human consumption. This leaves many residents impoverished and struggling to feed their familes.

As time passes, Brother William attracts more and more followers, especially after Josiah Young - owner and editor of a struggling newspaper called the Calvary Crier - devotes his paper to the Second Coming; and the schoolmarm Mrs. Edwards begins to exclusively teach Brother Williams sermons.

The pastor's followers develop a cult mentality. Many start dressing in long white robes with hoods that shroud their faces. They also give up their usual activities to pray at church all day, hoping God will deem them worthy of saving.

Followers of Brother William are absolutely convinced about their beliefs, and NOTHING will dissuade them. Believers will say and do anything to prove they're right, and the situation in Calvary grows dark.

The author seems to be very familiar with the scriptures, and the novel contains MANY pages of sermons and biblical chatter. This gets tedious and slows down the story.

Still this is an interesting novel, well-narrated and well worth reading, especially in the current climate, where huge lies are disseminated as truth.

Thanks to Netgalley and Garry Harper for a copy of the book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an audio copy.

I'm truly wondering how this is flying under the radar. A small farming community follows a charismatic reverend who has returned from seminary and various adventures thinking the end is near. This may have been set in the 1840s, but I could see how people in 2020s could also fall for this, in fact they have (i.e. crazy pastors and churches that have gone all in on MAGA, anti-vax, etc.)

Which considering that, it is surprising I finished and really enjoyed this one. With families and friendships tested, this reverend quickly gets his claws into the town even while the old pastor tries to get people to see how wrong he is.

This is very religion heavy since it involves a reverend preaching that the end times are near, but if you consider how much similar things have been making the news from pastors preaching similar things these days, it's not far off.

I do wish that the dialogue here didn't seem so modern. Seemed to be out of place for the 1840s.

Clouds Without Water is a heartbreaking and engrossing story based on the Millerite Movement, a religious movement in the 1830s led by William Miller, who spread word that he knew the exact date of the second coming of Christ. During this time, Millerites believed that they were the only ones to interpret the Bible correctly and any other religious practices were not only sinful but a prevention to the coming of Christ.

This story follows a small town which soon becomes divided by this extremist religious teaching, tearing apart friends and families. Clouds Without Water shows how deeply mass hysteria can affect communities, and how fear mongering causes divisiveness and violence.

Did not finish. Maybe I'll try to print version when it is released. Audiobook too hard to follow and narration was flat. Thanks.

The Movement

A story describing mass hysteria following a cult preaching based on the real life Millerite Movement. It is an interesting story of how one man can so influence and brainwash people into believing what he is saying even when they suffer great personal loss and sacrifice. How some will give everything to follow one man's teaching.

The story is both sad and enlightening. It follows one family where Henry the father does not agree with the movement and resists. He does everything he can to save his family from the teachings of the false prophet. When his young daughter Rosemary is totally taken in by the new pastor with the "end of days" message Henry knows he has to do something to save her, but what can he do?

As the movement grows the town dies as everyone gathers at the church in their white robes and worships at the Calvary Church. Then things start to turn ugly and violent. The non believers are turned against by friend and even family.

It is a lesson in how much harm one man can do if he can spread a spell over an entire group of people. This is how cults start and how they keep their members.
Anyone that has ever wondered what happens in a religious cult or why the members blindly follow should read this story.

It was a good story, I listened to the audio book and the narrator did a great job. The pronunciation was perfect and the voice was pleasant to listen to. The narrator did a good job of different characters and of dramatizing the events taken place.

Thanks to Garry Harper for writing a great story and publishing it, to Steven Fehr for his great narration and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to listen to and review.

I first became aware of the period of religious history profiled in Clouds without Water during a general class on Religions in America in college in the 90's.. I was fascinated by the brief bits of the story we were provided in class, but never followed up on researching more as the internet became *the* internet we now know. As such, it's a fairly niche fascination that inspired me request to preview this title as well as listen to the full story. While others may find the content dry or drawn-out, readers with a similar niche interest in this topic and/or interests in foundations of various religions in America will also find this title very interesting.

My thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC!

Clouds Without Water is a fascinating look at what can happen when a small, tight-knit community is caught up in a period of religious fervor. The writing is very realistic, and the characters are all believable, even though they are caught up in a crazy situation. Very nice independent book.

I was really looking forward to listening to this book and was so disappointed. I was only able to get about an hour into it and had to shut it off. I was unable to identify the time or place or setting. Usually, I can accept this drifting of time and space if the story is intriguing enough to hold my interest until all is revealed, but each time it seemed that the plot began to finally reveal itself, a lengthy and rather exhausting "fire and brimstone" sermon seemed to bring all forward momentum to a complete standstill. The language was impressive - it certainly created a mood. I wish I could give a more complete review of this title, but I found it to be unreadable/un-listen-able.

Clouds Without Water, was not at all what I expected and very difficult to follow. This book was a disappointment to me because I had heard about the Millerite Movement but the story did not expound upon what I already knew. Mostly its a story of a farmer trying to protect his family from the mass hysteria that engulfs the town.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to hear an audiobook of this title. As much as I love historical fiction, I had a very hard time finishing this book. The narrator did a wonderful job, and I would listen to another book narrated by him in the future. However, this was not the book for me, but this was more about the subject matter (religion) than the writing. The characters were well developed, and I learned some interesting facts about the time period (1840's).

Beautifully written, this is one of those books that grabs your attention and won't let go even though you see the end coming from the first page. Set during the Great Disappointment (Millerite movement in 1844), we follow a group of believers struggling to balance faith and reason. Taken in by a prodigal preacher, the town is caught up in preparing for Christ's return at the jeopardy of all else. The town slowly descends into madness painted as hope. They sell their homes and business, halt shipments, and ostracize and attack any neighbors who doubt. This attitude spreads and becomes a worldwide mania, all hinging on a prediction that Christ will return on an exact date prophesied by a pastor suring his studies. The book's strength lies in the telling if this story from multiple POVs, specifically of a family with reasonable doubt who simply want to survive the mania.

Recommended for those who are interested in:
Historical fiction
Religious mania
Cult dynamics
Small town drama
Groupthink

Well I managed to listen to 50% of this book, but it and I did not gel together. Although I know that there were definitely charismatic religious leaders who led their folks on a mission, this leader came off as to over the top even for the eighteen hundreds.

Sorry to say this is the first DNF in a while for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this one as well as to the author, and publisher.

On one level, this novel presents an engaging story of a father wanting to protect his family and a community member who stands alone against the rest of the community. However, the author misses a chance to explore the psychology of mass movements. I wish the author had spent more time in the heads of Miller’s followers, especially when they believed despite all evidence.

I also noticed an anachronism in the religious discussion. One character, speaking in 1844, used a term coined in 1920.

A novel of mass hysteria, where a farmer tries to shield his family from the apocalyptic teachings of a charismatic preacher.
It’s the year of 1844, and Rev. William Miller has returned to Calvary, New York, to claim his birthright as the minister of the local Baptist church, a position his father, Samuel, held for a half-century. He shocks the town by delivering an alarming apocalyptic message: He tells them they are living in the end times where God’s judgment will soon be intentionally delivered. He claims his interpretations are scientifically exact and are based on a mathematical decoding of the mysteries of Scripture. He claims the end of the world will be Oct. 22. This means Calvary folk have about six months to prepare their souls. Some are are enticed by his powerful sermons and others are skeptical. Henry Smith for example, is suspicious of William’s intentions, especially since he once flirted with Henry’s wife, Mary. Henry’s challenge is quite daunting as he wants to save his family from William’s gloomy predictions, but also stay true to his own faith in God.
I liked the writing but the televangelist narrator got in the way of the content for this reader.