Waiting on Wednesday: The Godless Boys

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

I tend to avoid books with a religious focus unless they are extremely well done or provide a particularly interesting perspective. The upcoming release The Godless Boys is actually one that caught my eye based on the premise; a world where you have to pick whether or not you want to live with religion. Add in a little mystery and this sounds like an extremely neat literary thriller.

If you were forced to live with faith, or without, which would you choose?

England. 1986. The Church controls the country, and all members of the Secular Movement have been expelled to the Island.

On the Island, religion is outlawed. A gang of boys patrols the community, searching for signs of faith, and punishing any believers.

When an English girl arrives—intent on finding her mother who disappeared, mysteriously, ten years ago—she is swept up in the dangerous games of the gang. But while one boy falls in love with her, the other wants revenge for the wrongs of the past, and, as the violence escalates, the English girl becomes their pawn.

The Godless Boys is a book about faith, and life without faith; about love, and its absence. But above all, it’s about power, and how dangerous it can be to stand out from the crowd. Both violent and tender, it’s a remarkable debut, and clearly marks Naomi Wood as a name to note.

The Godless Boys will be released by Picador UK on May 2nd 2011.

How do you feel about books on religious topics? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?