4⭐️’s from me!
I discovered this one at our new Amazon Book stores. It was on a shelf of highly recommended reads, but was one I hadn’t come across yet – so, naturally, I picked it up. Can you ever leave a bookstore without a book? I certainly can’t!
Goodreads Summary: “Becca Meister Fitzpatrick–wife, mother, grandmother, and pillar of the community–is the dutiful steward of her family’s iconic summer tradition . . . until she discovers her recently deceased husband squandered their nest egg. As she struggles to accept that this is likely her last season in Long Harbor, Becca is inspired by her granddaughter’s boldness in the face of impending single-motherhood, and summons the courage to reveal a secret she was forced to bury long ago: the existence of a daughter she gave up fifty years ago. The question now is how her other daughter, Rachel–with whom Becca has always had a strained relationship–will react.
Eden is the account of the days leading up to the Fourth of July weekend, as Becca prepares to disclose her secret and her son and brothers conspire to put the estate on the market, interwoven with the century-old history of Becca’s family–her parents’ beginnings and ascent into affluence, and her mother’s own secret struggles in the grand home her father named “Eden.” ”
My Review:
It is such a simple concept to center the storyline around a single local, but Eden is so much more than just a family home. The setting is so central, so integral to the characters’ narrative that you cannot imagine a different house for the storyline. This enables Blasberg to masterfully parallel Eden’s weathering of various storms throughout the years with the perils the women of Eden must face.
The consistent location also creates the perfect situation for commentary on the evolution of the female role in a family. Three generations of women face similar life-altering decisions, but the societal expectations in the respective time periods are vastly different resulting in lasting and unique scars.
A complex story in a deceivingly surprising setting. Definitely give this one a look!
Beth's Book Blurbs 