This Other Eden: A Novel

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In 1792, formerly enslaved Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife, Patience, find an island where they can build a life together. Fast forward to 1912, their descendants and a diverse group of neighbors face poverty, isolation, and hunger, yet remain shielded from the mainland's hostility. The community's fragile existence is disrupted by Matthew Diamond, a retired schoolteacher-turned-missionary, whose idealistic yet prejudiced efforts to educate the island's children draw the attention of mainland authorities. Influenced by the eugenics movement, they plot to forcibly evacuate the island, institutionalize its residents, and transform it into a vacation spot. The narrative begins with a hurricane flood reminiscent of Noah's Ark and concludes with another Ark. Through breathtaking prose, Paul Harding vividly portrays an unforgettable cast: sisters Iris and Violet McDermott raising three orphaned Penobscot children; Theophilus and Candace Larks with their vagabond brood; and the prophetic Zachary Hand to God Proverbs, a Civil War veteran living in a hollow tree. This spellbinding tale of resistance and survival serves as a powerful testament to the struggle for human dignity in the face of intolerance and injustice.