A heart-wrenching story collection from the acclaimed author of THE ONE-IN-A-MILLION BOY, Monica Wood. ERNIE'S ARK tells interconnected stories of a small town's people, determined to survive... Perfect for those who love reading Anne Tyler, Joanna Cannon and Emma Healey. 'Loving character portraits... help us understand the human condition' Boston GlobeAbbott Falls, Maine, a town once drenched with ordinary hopes and dreams, is now praying for a small drop of good fortune. Ernie Whitten - out of a job and tending to his ill wife - needs it more than most. Struck with sudden inspiration, Ernie builds a giant ark in his backyard. It is a work of art, a vessel to carry them both away, and a plea to God to spare Marie, come hell or high water.As the ark takes shape, the rest of the town carries on. There's Dan Little, sent to fine Ernie for building the ark, who makes a significant discovery about himself. Francine Love is a precocious thirteen-year-old who longs to be part of a family. And CEO Henry John McCoy, an impatient man determined to be a good father to his twenty-six-year-old daughter. The people of Abbott Falls will try their best to hold their community together, against the fiercest of odds...What readers are saying about ERNIE'S ARK:'An astounding book. Built one piece at a time, one story on top of the next until the reader is left with a magnificent monument to its characters'A gorgeous collection about the meaning of life, the beauty of the mundane, the quiet, day-to-day events that make up our lives and define who we are. The perfect book' 'Monica Wood writes this series of interrelated short stories with heart and intelligence. Honest and heart-warming'