Eve -- Fiction |
Women in the Bible -- Fiction. |
Religious fiction. |
Available:
Library | Shelf Number | Shelf Location | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Searching... Foxboro - Boyden Library | FIC ELLIOTT, E. | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
It is the world's oldest tale: the story of Eve, her husband, Adam, and the tragedy that would overcome her sons…. In this luminous debut novel, Elissa Elliott puts a powerful twist on biblical narrative, boldly reimagining Eve's journey. At once intimate and universal, timely and timeless, this unique work of fiction blends biblical tradition with recorded history and dazzling storytelling. And as it does, Eve comes to life in a way religion and myth have never allowed--in a novel that explores the very essence of love, motherhood, faith, and humanity. In their world they are alone…a family haunted by banishment, struggling for survival in a harsh new land. A woman who has borne and buried children, Eve sees danger shadowing those she loves, while her husband drifts further and further from the man he was in the Garden, blinded by his need to rebuild a life outside of Eden. One daughter, alluring, self-absorbed Naava, turns away from their beliefs. Another, crippled, ever-faithful Aya, harbors a fateful secret, while brothers Cain and Abel become adversaries, and Dara, the youngest, is chosen for a fate of her own. In one hot, violent summer, by the shores of the muddy Euphrates, strangers arrive on their land. New gods challenge their own. And for Eve, a time of reckoning is at hand. The woman who once tasted the forbidden fruit of paradise sees her family unraveling--as brother turns on brother, culminating in a confrontation that will have far-reaching consequences for them all. From a woman's first awakening to a mother's innermost hopes and fears, from moments of exquisite tenderness to a climax of shocking violence,Evetakes us on a breathtaking journey of the imagination. A novel that has it all--romantic love, lust, cruelty, heroism, envy, sacrifice, murder--Eveis a work of mesmerizing literary invention by a singular new voice in fiction. From the Hardcover edition.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Elliott's disjointed narrative recounts the story of the Judeo-Christian tradition's first family from the creation of Adam to the murder of Abel, with an iconoclastic twist-the events are seen through the eyes of Eve and her daughters. While most of the characters lack depth, the story still manages a compelling interpretation, and the audio production improves upon the original text. With three different narrators performing the roles of Eve and her daughters, the production adds nuanced tones and more distinct personalities. From the somber and saddened Eve to the recalcitrant and scheming Naava and the optimistic and endearing Dara, the narrators enrich these points of view with a range of vocal shifts and cues that move characters beyond Elliott's superficiality. A Delacorte hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 10). (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Dueling deities, and a first family distressingly familiar in its dysfunction, enliven newcomer Elliott's highly original look at Original Sin. Eve and Adam are happily ensconced in the Garden, despite occasional spats about who came first. But after Eve, with Adam's passive-aggressive collaboration, takes sexy Lucifer's cue to nosh on forbidden fruit, GodElohimreluctantly ejects them. Years later, after much hardship, Eve and Adam have founded a thriving compound, complete with courtyard, dates, figs, grapes, beer, bread and flocks of sheep and goats. Their childrenEve and her daughters narrateeach have a role: Abel herds animals, Cain farms, lovely daughter Naava spins and weaves, youngest daughter Dara molds clay, etc. Although Adam tries to perpetuate the worship of Elohim, Cain venerates the gods of a neighboring city, particularly Inanna, a Sumerian mother/fertility goddess. (Elliott's avowedly fanciful world conflates the Bronze Age and the late Stone Age.) Nubile Naava has seduced Cain and cajoled him into introducing her to this teeming primordial metropolis of temples, marketplaces and kohl-lidded women sporting tattoos, piercings and hennaed hair. Resentful that Dara babysits for the harem of the city's prince, Naava sets her sights on the prince himselfa young man as sultry and beguiling as the persona Lucifer adopted to co-opt Eve. When Naava, costumed as Inanna, marries the prince, Cain, enraged, foments a riot and Eve's family must flee the city. But strife follows them home as Cain and Abel's lifelong sibling rivalry ends in murder. Exotic setting aside, this could be any contemporary family plagued by a manic-depressive son, a sulky teenager and a father who is shockingly deficient in the wisdom expected of a First Progenitor. Perennially pregnant, Eve can't do much except whine inwardly about her past errors and the family's present turmoil. An imaginative and deeply felt debut in which the First Parents' flaws make us wonder why they ever thought they had a snowball's chance in Eden. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The biblical story of Adam and Eve has fascinated people for centuries. Elliott twists this story and refashions an intimate account of this age-old tale, retelling it through the perspective of the first woman and her daughters. Putting a definite female spin on the familiar saga, the author manages to reinvigorate the temptation, the banishment from the Garden of Eden, and the Cain and Abel fratricide. Still, readers expecting a mere retelling of Old Testament chestnuts are in for a pleasant surprise, as the narrative moves well beyond that timeworn terrain. Elliott manages to conjure up an unexpectedly detailed account of a beautiful but often-brutal ancient world while painting the portrait of an extended family unit struggling to carve out a viable existence in the face of seemingly insurmountable internal and external obstacles. Readers who loved Anita Diamant's The Red Tent (1997) will welcome this fresh addition to the biblical-fiction genre.--Flanagan, Margaret Copyright 2009 Booklist
Library Journal Review
This ambitious and resonant first novel imagines Eve as she is created from Adam, is expelled from the Garden, and loses one son at the hand of another. With her lyrical writing style, Elliott brings a fully flawed and human Eve to life. Listeners may be surprised to relate to Eve as she struggles with the enduring problems of maintaining a marriage and rearing children. Three talented narrators-Sandra Burr, Tanya Eby Sirois, and Ellen Grafton-give voice to Eve and her daughters. Recommended for public libraries with a Christian fiction readership and/or interest in literary fiction. [The Delacorte hc received a starred review, LJ 1/09.-Ed.]-Carly Wiggins, Allen Cty. P.L., Fort Wayne, IN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.