Mary is a student in the Mormon Church's Indian Placement Program who can't seem to fit into the well-meaning, sanitized family she has become a part of and is losing connection with the reservation she left behind. Her life is a volatile quest for acceptance in a world that seems to hold no place for her.
Mary's contemptuous daughter Eli is fat, mouthy, and knows it. Eli blames Mary for her problems and pounces on the first chance to move away—far away.
Just when it seems Mary and Eli will never find a place, Eli returns home and witnesses the unexpected realization of Mary's ridiculed vision. The miracle is what neither of them expected, but everything they need to move forward.
The Coming of Elijah is a weighty, ambitious, and moving novel—tagged a feminine response to The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint and an achievement akin to House Made of Dawn. The novel's unsparing examination of redemption that binds generations makes it an instant classic in Mormon literature. [from publisher's web site]
Winner of the 2006 Marilyn Brown Novel Award, Association for Mormon Letters