3.5 The author is a performance artist and it shows in her creativity and ability to envision the world of this bizarre, but plausible story, as well as in the main character's profession and mindset. Hope is a thirty-something, NY playwright, hanging on by a thread -- professionally, socially, emotionally. Her mother has recently died of cancer and she receives a letter out of the blue letting her know the man (Larry) who kidnapped her as a pre-teen is up for parole. This sends Hope on a quest to find her half-sister Eden who experienced the trauma with her, though maybe worse since she was older at the time. Hope also returns to the world of her estranged father, who was tangentially responsible for the kidnapping when he neglected to pick them up at the bus station on his custody weekend. A picture of the girls' childhood begins to emerge – selfish father, hippie-dippy mothers and unresolved trauma from the kidnapping incident. The search by camper van takes Hope to a couple communes and ultimately across the country, but her sister clearly does not want to be found and their meeting is a little anti-climactic, though Hope learns a lot about herself. There are metaphors here too: Eden, the innocence that can’t be regained, Hope that searches….One person replies to her query: “I sense this is some sort of quest for you, needing some sort of closure….keep on keeping on. The best thing you have going for you is your name.” Hope realizes: I hated that kind of resolution: everything is not all right in the end. In the end, your bruises become scars and they make you who you are.” (206) and “I thought …about how I was addicted to continuing. It was what we did. It was how we lived. Make one decision and then another. Make one mark, then another. Write one word. Write another.” (261) Steps toward healing. ( )

You can also find this review on my blog.

cw: transphobia, kidnapping, underage drinking, drug use
disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for review consideration. All of the opinions presented below are my own.

I requested this from NetGalley mostly on a whim and ended up being pleasantly surprised. What I liked most about it was probably that it followed the aftermath of the sisters’ kidnapping rather than focusing on the kidnapping itself. It was more of a study on how trauma impacts individuals as they age, as well as the role that relationships with others play in our lives.

“I own the ground, but not the water,” she said. “Isn’t that something?”

The main character is a queer woman (I believe she’s a lesbian, but never drops a definitive ID) and it’s nice that it’s just sort of a fact rather than a plot point. My one issue was the way she referred to another character: as “maybe trans” and later as another character’s “girlfriend/boyfriend.” It didn’t really feel like a respectful way to portray them and rubbed me the wrong way, although I’m a cis woman and can’t speak fully to the representation. ( )

There is nothing I really enjoyed about Eden. I finished it to find out whether Hope would find her sister, but I neither enjoyed the journey nor the story’s resolution. The whole thing is too esoteric for my tastes. The writing is stark; normally I do not mind that type of writing. In this though, it only serves to highlight the philosophical discussions of which there are many. Hope is a prickly character; her tragic backstory gains your sympathy but her behavior and attitude after that push you away from wanting to care about her. I never found myself drawn into the story, which means I was never able to shut off the critical part of my brain.

The thing is that there is nothing that ruins a novel for me faster than philosophy and dialogue that reads like a textbook. I can never convince myself that people talk like that to friends outside of a classroom. Plus, I do not enjoy having such discussions passed as part of the story. In her search to find Eden, Hope discusses guilt, gender roles, adulthood, art for art’s sake, desire, fame, identity, and so much more. Every discussion had me checking to see how long it was because I wanted to know how long I would have to suffer. Readers who actually enjoy these types of conversations in novels, in which all parties sound like philosophy professors, will get much more out of Eden than I ever could.

Outside of these character development sessions where Hope makes another life discovery, nothing really happens. Most of the novel set in the present day is long sections of dialogue, either internalized or with a side character, followed by a brief section where Hope travels to another area in her search for her sister. In between those chapters are flashbacks to Hope’s memories of their abduction, how it came to pass, and what happened in her experience. It helps fill the gaps and provide a greater understanding of the hidden reasons behind some of Hope’s behavior. In my callous mind, however, this understanding does not explain all of her behavior. Between the overly lengthy discussions of ideas about which I am not interested in reading and the lack of anything major happening, I found myself thoroughly bored.

The reason I stayed with the novel is Eden. Hope’s memories of her make her out to be quite the free spirit. If Hope is the heart of the two sisters, Eden is the soul. We see her through Hope’s eyes doing whatever she wants without a care of how her behavior affects her family. She is the spark of this arcane novel, and I so desperately wanted to meet her. Unfortunately, when we do, even that is a disappointment, and I was left wondering why I bothered.

Suffice it to say, Eden is not my type of novel. I did skim the last half of it but obviously, that was not enough to improve the situation. While I never regret anything I read, there is the understanding that I could have DNFed this one or even have skipped it entirely without having any impact on my mind or soul. In fact, doing so just might have saved me some frustration at the lack of action, at the incessant philosophy, at the ridiculous-sounding dialogue, at the disappointing reunion, and pretty much every other aspect of the novel.