This author was new to me but I because love Southern fiction, I'll read pretty much any book set in the South (or at least give it a try). This one didn't disappoint, though the main character had my sympathy for the total lack of useful guidance he seemed to have received growing up. Being pampered and sheltered doesn't do anyone any good. Rowan didn't exactly blame anyone for the situations he found himself in but wishing for different outcomes without taking thoughtful action won't guarantee wishes coming true; not asking for guidance or advice seemed to be a weakness that was never corrected.

What frequently came to mind was "houses built on sand". It's hard to make good decisions if you've never been permitted to make any at all, until really hard choices forced you to learn. I kind of felt sorry for Rowan but I really felt for his (biological) children at the end. All of these points made for an interesting, believable story set in small town North Carolina the 1950s-70s.

Forbes has a deft hand at crafting space, time, and character. This book talks of taking the road less travelled in life and the costs of traveling that road. Rowen and Eden meet when she is 10 and he is 18 at a moment when both their fathers have died and he is on the verge of going to college. However he chooses a different path, taking the child into his care for a year. Each person in their families deals with the ripples from that moment. Each day is lived with hope and frustration, until all families sunder when Eden is murdered by her husband. Moving and thought-provoking.

Eden is the story of a fractured boy and town after a series of events during the 1950’s. This extremely quiet novel follows Rowen the son of a prominent family. He though he had his entire life planned until his father committed suicide and his life is turned upside down.

Meet Eden not far after that incident. She is ten years old and his mother has taken her in after an incident that occurs with her father that leaves her family in upheaval.

This short book spans many years, You will follow Rowen and Eden through each of their marriages and children. Rowen has many demons he fights through this book, up until almost the very last page.

Eden is literary to it’s core and difficult to review. At times it moved very slow, but towards the back half of this book, I was all in on this story. I don’t think this book will be for everyone, but if you are fan of literary fiction, I think this book will have a place on your shelf.

Thank you NetGalley and Pronghorn Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Not what I was expecting based on the description. Too depressing to read right now. May try again later.

It's hard for me to appropriately describe what I thought about this book. Set in the south, the roles of blacks and whites were an important part of what made the story important. But more than their roles in society it was the impact that has on numerous lives and families - tearing them apart, creating the need to lie to be able to 'be who you are'. I found it all very fascinating and interesting.

Eden by Jamie Lisa Forbes seems to be mistitled as this literary novel is a coming of age story about Rowen Hart. Eden herself presents a series of complications to his life early in the story and again later in life. Rowen and his mother Rita have been reduced to poverty after the suicide of his father. Rowen is only 18 during the 1950s in White Rock, North Carolina, when these circumstances make him the head of the household who must take care of his grieving mother. To make matters worse, Rita takes in Eden, a distant relative whose father was recently murdered. Rowen had been accepted to college and that was his path until all these obligations rained down on him.

Eventually, someone came along in his life who could give him direction. Claude Lowry was a neighbor who stopped to repair the gate to Rowen’s rundown home. He recognized that Rowen is a young man ill-equipped for his circumstances. He turns into a father figure who guides this naïve young man through life. Shed of Eden and now married to Juliette though his mother still lives with him, Rowen learns the construction trade under Claude’s guidance, and after his rightful inheritance comes to him, he eventually buys Claude’s business.

Rowen is still saddled with enormous responsibilities but better able now to deal with them but still, life is draining as he tries to meet everyone else’s needs. He has never forgotten about Eden, and she comes into his life again, only to cause more trouble. Her sad life leads to more complications in Rowen’s life, and he finds her and her family to be an added responsibility for him.

I enjoyed this character-driven novel and heartily felt Rowen’s frustrations as life weighed him down. This is an engaging read, quite thought provoking. Rowen and some of the choices he made will stay with me for some time.

This is my first encounter with author Jamie Lisa Forbes. It is her second novel. She was raised on a ranch on the Little Laramie River thirty miles west of Laramie, Wyoming. Currently she lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she is an attorney with another novel in progress,

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting May 9, 2020.

I’d like to thank Pronghorn Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

I am still shaking my head after reading this book. It’s kind of all over the place. I was expecting this book to be something else instead it’s a mishmash of Rowan’s life. I understand it didn’t go the way it’s planned (whose does?). The book followed a time line but I never felt I knew these characters. I could not identify with any of them. Eden was a mess. It was interesting how she never kept in touch with anyone but they all welcomed her back. Jewell was your typical housewife. Just never felt this book care together.

This book is set in the great depression and follows two young people from the begining of thier young adult lives to later in life, after marriages, kids and decision which can change the course of one's path. The writing was well executed. That said, I had a lot of difficulty connecting with the characters. The book is focused on their reactions to their situations. Rowen has always been taken care of and never made to help or understand the value of hard work. His father's suicide and subsequent depression of his mother leaves him in control of his life with no idea what to do. Eden is a wittness of her father's death by her uncle. Unfortunately, most of the town don't believe her. When Eden first enters Rowen's life, I expected a change in his path, behavior, maturity or some way she would cause a deviation in his life. For most of the book they both plod along, falling into ruts and the whole feel of the book is the depression they grew up in never left them in their later life. Rowen doesn't have a notable change in his actions until a death near the end of the book. I read about half the life of two people yet I feel like I don't know them at all. This coupled with the depression thread through the book just didn't work for me.

I wante to like this more, but sadly, it didn't offer up much emotion other than despair. The major problem was that the main character wasn't likeable. He didn't change until the very end and all his actions prior to that were frustratingly annoying. His relationships with other characters didn't feel fleshed out, even his relationship with the title character lacked depth. In addition the story was mostly sad and full of missed opportunities.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

2.5 or 3 stars. This book started out good: the story of a well-to-do teenager whose father commits suicide, leaving Rowen and his mother penniless. Rowen is naïve and had always been rather coddled, so he has a hard time dealing with his new situation--and his mother is no help as she has taken to her bed due to the shock and depression. I thought Rowen seemed pretty realistic for his time and situation. The problem for me was that he never grew up, never changed, and the story really dragged as the years went by and Rowan was still immature and indecisive and his mother was still in bed. A girl named Eden enters the story not long after the death of Rowen's father and is the only real spark to their lives and to the book itself. It's not until the end of the book that Rowen finally matures a bit and decides what kind of person he wants to be and what kind of life he wants to live.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book, for which I was not required to write a positive (or any) review.

See my Goodreads four star review of this book! I really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who enjoys this type of book. Bonus: author lives (or did live) in my adopted home town of Greensboro North Carolina, and the novel is set in the eastern part of the state.

I Forced myself to finish this book. I did love Eden and Adeline, but the other characters I found unlikable. Rowen seemed so flat and remote from his own life, especially in scenes with Lilli. His mother is even more remote, expecting everyone to wait on her. I find myself questioning what the author’s message was. This was a very depressing read for me. Thanks to the author, Pronghorn Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this soon to be published book.

This book surprised me. I expected the voice, the main character, to be female. Most of the books in the women’s fiction area have a female main character. This one did not. The main character was Rowen Hart. EDEN follows Rowen as he grows up in small town North Carolina.

At first, I didn’t like Rowen. He was entitled. He didn’t know how to function as a person at all. Over time, I came to see how he had ended up being so clueless. It seemed that at heart, Rowen wanted to be a better person and do the right things, but he didn’t know how to get there.

Eden is a secondary character. We meet her as a young girl, testifying against her uncle in a murder trial. Things go badly, and Eden comes to live with Rowen and his mother, Miz Rita. She is wild and willful.

Throughout the book, Rowen makes strange decisions. He wants to please his momma. He wants to “be a man” but doesn’t really seem to know what that looks like. He keeps plugging away, often making himself and those around him miserable.

Overall a good book. Rowen was a complex character. I enjoyed the enduring friendship between Rita and Adeline, their housekeeper. Eden remained a mystery to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a book that harked back to the times reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird. It was well-written, but not a story that I could connect with, as the characters to me were sadly flawed. I believe many readers will find this a good novel; it just did not work for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Jamie Lisa Forbes for the ARC for my true and honest opinion.
Rowen was looking to find is way in life and where he fits in with others and everything after his father has killed himself. The story was predictable and did not hold my attention very well.

I wish to thank Net Galley and the Pronghorn Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I looked forward to reading this book based on the lovely cover, the description and the setting. But I must admit that I did not love it. I found it depressing and one that does not highlight the goodness in people. It was not uplifting as it went from one really bad situation to another. It showed no chance of life getting better for anyone.
The story is set in the 1950s in small town White Rock, North Carolina. Rowen is a teenage boy with dreams of escaping small town life and living up to his father’s dream of college for him. He finds his life tragically spinning out of control by circumstances that are not of his own making. His life does not improve as the story weaves slowly on to his adulthood. He takes in a delightful young cousin whose mother has thrown her out and he feels obligated to try and help her. Eden lives with them for about a year and the reader begins to be interested in the story. Eden is the only star in the book. The other characters that you really want to know and like just do not measure up.

Rowen Hart was raised with money but then when his father kills himself Rowen and his mother find out there is no money and they are reduced to living in poverty. Rowen has no idea that he needs to work and thinks it's fine to run off and do what he wants and show up mid morning. He is upset with his mother because she has taken to staying in her room mourning and not helping herself but I don't see Rowen as much different. He is barely working, takes advantage of Adeline, their help, and has no idea how to help himself except by whining. The bright spot in the story was Eden, a young girl who comes to live with his family for about a year. The story jumps from him graduating high school, to his marriage and then a family. Other than Eden and Adeline I didn't like any of the characters and there really wasn't much of a plot.

I chose this book because of the setting, which I believe was accurately portrayed. The rest of the book, not so much. Rowen was a disappointment in all phases of his life. His relationship with Eden was hard to believe. Maybe because we are in a stay at home mode, this book was definitely up-lifting or hopeful.

This fictional novel examines issues related to mental health, opportunity, race, and class. Set in White Oak, North Carolina, during the 1950s, Eden begins with a family tragedy that ultimately changes the course of the Hart family.

Rowen Hart, a recent high school graduate, foregoes his chance of a college education to begin working and caring for his grief-stricken mother. Eventually, 11-year-old Eden starts living with the Hart family, when her own family abandons her. The impact that this “wild child” has on Rowen is felt throughout the book. Her desire for love and acceptance from him are often met by resistance from Rowen. As Rowen marries and begins his own family, Eden seems to “pop up” in all areas of his life and he is faced with how he is going to treat her. Rowen also grapples with his friendships to several black members in his community. Throughout this novel, Rowen is faced with decisions that may ultimately affect how society will view him and his family and he must decide how to respond.

This is a very touching novel. I enjoyed the depth of characters and fell in love with them. The story moved at a good pace and I stayed engaged with the story throughout the book. It is a very thought provoking novel and days after finishing I find myself still thinking about the characters and the choices they made.

This is my first book by Jamie Lisa Forbes and I must say it was quite a different read. At first I didn’t know if I wanted to finish the book but after each chapter I had to continue to see the out come. A book about Rowan Hart growing up and trying to do the right thing in his life after his father killed himself. Taking care of his mother and a girl named Eden who came into his life after her father was murdered. This is a coming of age book about Rowan and also about 10 year old Eden. Life’s trials for each of them and how they are handled make this book a good read. Thank you Net Galley for the advanced copy.