2023 Booker Longlist: This Other Eden by Paul Harding

by imabookwormy on September 15, 2023

Other eden

This Other Eden by Paul Harding is the next book up for our panel. This Other Eden is Harding’s 3rd book. His novel Tinkers, won the Pulitzer and PEN Prizes in 2010.

Synopsis taken from the Booker Prize website: Inspired by historical events, This Other Eden tells the story of Apple Island: an enclave off the coast of the United States where castaways – in flight from society and its judgment – have landed and built a home.

In 1792, formerly enslaved Benjamin Honey arrives on the island with his Irish wife, Patience, to make a life together there. More than a century later, the Honeys’ descendants remain, alongside an eccentric, diverse band of neighbours.

Then comes the intrusion of ‘civilization’: officials determine to ‘cleanse’ the island. A missionary schoolteacher selects one light-skinned boy to save. The rest will succumb to the authorities’ institutions – or cast themselves on the waters in a new Noah’s Ark…

You can purchase a copy of the book here

Five of our panelists read and reviewed this novel. Keep reading to find out how we rated it.

Tracy’s Thoughts: I expected this book to be on the longlist- Esi Eduygan blurbed it, after all. She and I must have very different tastes.

I believe that this is a very good story. If you edit the purple prose, it would be a great story.

That being said, Harding’s conceit is fascinating, and the book flows, once you ignore all the extraneous crap. If you can.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Character development: 2/4
Plot: 3/4
Enjoyment: 1/2
Total: 13/20

Nicole’s Thoughts: This Other Book … that I read last year? A remote Island … an isolated community ….a talented artist …. An outsider trying to help but doing more harm than good? Does it sound like 2022’s The Colony? Replace “The Troubles” with “Racism” and you got it.

I’m not implying that the author copied The Colony, I’m saying for me it was a far lesser version of it. It was hard to get through, for the most part it was simply boring – and a bit self-indulgent, honestly. For me, nothing to recommend it.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 1/5
Character development: 2/4
Plot development: 2/4
Overall enjoyment: 0/2
Total: 8/20

Lisa’s Thoughts: I thought this book was beautifully written and seemed like a good contender for the short list. What I notice about my own reading is that I have to slow down and enjoy the language and imagery in a book like this. In the world of short attention spans and social media, that is hard to do. But when I did do that, this book blossomed. I liked the simplicity of the story and the focus on the love that the islanders have for each other.

Writing quality: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Character development: 3/4
Plot development: 2/4
Overall enjoyment: 2/2
Total: 15/20

BookWorm’s Thoughts: I was unaware of this particular part of history, perhaps not surprisingly as it impacted a small island community who were essentially isolated and forgotten about until the mainlanders decided they shouldn’t be allowed even the small amount they had.

As a piece of historical fiction it provided an interesting insight into a dark time in American history and an event that should be more widely known about and not quietly forgotten, for those reasons I am glad to have read the book. Why it made the Booker Longlist I am not so sure.

Interesting but not a stand out book for this reader.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Character development: 2/4
Plot development: 3/4
Overall enjoyment: 2/2
Total: 13/20

Jen’s Thoughts: My thoughts about this book are similar to Lisa’s. Initially, I really struggled getting through the book because at first I found it very boring: Too much detail, lists, slow paced prose. In some ways, reading this felt like a chore. However, when I was able to slow things down, I appreciated it much more. The book is very well written, despite the fact that it was slow and detailed. For me, the level of detail, and the sprinkling in of sentences that read like lists, serve to document a history that had been long forgotten, a documentation of the lives and daily struggles of people and families who lived on this island. As Lisa mentioned above, when you slow down and really take the time to reflect, the writing shines. This is the one book on the list that interested me enough to do outside research. After I finished reading, I looked up the history of Malaga island and it’s brutal. Harding brings life to the families who lived there and the contrast between small moments of family life interspersed with moments of violence was brilliant.

Writing quality: 5/5
Originality: 4/5
Character development: 2/4
Plot development: 3/4
Overall enjoyment: 1/2
Total: 15/20

Have you read this one? Let us know what you thought.

Rankings