As her children and grandchildren assemble for Fourth of July weekend at Eden, the Meister family’s grand summer cottage on the Rhode Island shore, Becca decides it’s time to introduce the daughter she gave up for adoption fifty years ago.
Great story! Great writing! An outstanding book that I devoured in a single afternoon! The setting is the summer seaside escape on Long Harbor where the family has gathered since the 1930s. The story is a multi-generation saga that begins with the current matriarch, a widow, mother, grandmother and soon-to-be great mother, who is likely spending her last season summering at her beloved Eden after discovering her deceased husband has left her in financial ruin. This story is beautifully written and evocative. The setting and atmosphere are perfectly captured and the characters so real, their stories woven seamlessly. Not everything is Utopia in Eden. Issues involving postpartum depression, pregnancy and alcoholism are revealed, as well as friction between mothers and daughters and within marriages. I love the family tree in the front of the book. I referred to it many times as the chapters flipped among Bunny, Sadie and Becca and introduced additional family members. This is one of those rare books that I fell in love with.
Author
deborah
3 years ago
A wonderful tribute to family, honesty and the degrees of personality among siblings. Heartfelt and a terrific ending!
Author
drivingdiva55
3 years ago
I enjoyed this book over the weekend. Easy to follow, interesting characters…cozy way to lose yourself during aitumn weather.
Author
marikalindholm
3 years ago
I was swept away by this multigenerational novel. As someone who usually likes to read about marginalized characters, I wasn’t expecting to become so interested in the trajectory of a privileged family. But I was pulled in by the heartache and family drama brought on by social -and especially gender expectations – of each time period. I was disappointed to reach the last page because I grew to care about these characters and wanted to know more. Well deserving of all the accolades.
Author
wyanelle
3 years ago
Good but hard to keep up with up with everybody
Author
carlasuto
3 years ago
EDEN by Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg is a sweeping family saga covering the lives of one family over several generations and nearly one hundred years. Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and at Eden, the affluent family’s summer home in Long Harbor, Rhode Island, the compelling story is filled with mystery, drama and intrigue and it kept me engaged from beginning to end. Becca Meister, the family matriarch now in her seventies, is distraught to learn that her recently deceased husband left their financial affairs in ruins and this may be the last summer she can spend at her beloved Eden. She gathers the entire extended family together for a Fourth of July celebration so she can disclose the current situation with the estate while also revealing several deeply-buried secrets of the past that are sure to shock everyone, especially the younger generations. The book alternates between the past and present, sharing insight into the lives of each family member and how their stories are interwoven. The characters are wonderfully-portrayed and I felt completely drawn into each of their lives. The complicated relationships between the characters and the secrets they have kept feel real and relatable. I really enjoyed how the author provided real historical events over the decades as a backdrop to the family’s history. I also appreciated that the author provided a family tree to help keep all the characters straight. I truly enjoyed this moving tale of love and loyalty between parents and children, brothers and sisters and husbands and wives and highly recommend it!
Author
barbarastarknemon
3 years ago
Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg’s debut novel Eden poignantly proves the adage, all that glitters is not gold. The wealth and privilege of the Meisters give way to the reality of the secrets and sorrows that each family member harbors. All is played out in the summer days at the family compound on the ocean in Rhode Island. Blasberg reminds us it’s never too late to learn from the past and redefine the meaning of family.
Great story! Great writing! An outstanding book that I devoured in a single afternoon! The setting is the summer seaside escape on Long Harbor where the family has gathered since the 1930s. The story is a multi-generation saga that begins with the current matriarch, a widow, mother, grandmother and soon-to-be great mother, who is likely spending her last season summering at her beloved Eden after discovering her deceased husband has left her in financial ruin. This story is beautifully written and evocative. The setting and atmosphere are perfectly captured and the characters so real, their stories woven seamlessly. Not everything is Utopia in Eden. Issues involving postpartum depression, pregnancy and alcoholism are revealed, as well as friction between mothers and daughters and within marriages. I love the family tree in the front of the book. I referred to it many times as the chapters flipped among Bunny, Sadie and Becca and introduced additional family members. This is one of those rare books that I fell in love with.
A wonderful tribute to family, honesty and the degrees of personality among siblings. Heartfelt and a terrific ending!
I enjoyed this book over the weekend. Easy to follow, interesting characters…cozy way to lose yourself during aitumn weather.
I was swept away by this multigenerational novel. As someone who usually likes to read about marginalized characters, I wasn’t expecting to become so interested in the trajectory of a privileged family. But I was pulled in by the heartache and family drama brought on by social -and especially gender expectations – of each time period. I was disappointed to reach the last page because I grew to care about these characters and wanted to know more. Well deserving of all the accolades.
Good but hard to keep up with up with everybody
EDEN by Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg is a sweeping family saga covering the lives of one family over several generations and nearly one hundred years. Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and at Eden, the affluent family’s summer home in Long Harbor, Rhode Island, the compelling story is filled with mystery, drama and intrigue and it kept me engaged from beginning to end. Becca Meister, the family matriarch now in her seventies, is distraught to learn that her recently deceased husband left their financial affairs in ruins and this may be the last summer she can spend at her beloved Eden. She gathers the entire extended family together for a Fourth of July celebration so she can disclose the current situation with the estate while also revealing several deeply-buried secrets of the past that are sure to shock everyone, especially the younger generations. The book alternates between the past and present, sharing insight into the lives of each family member and how their stories are interwoven. The characters are wonderfully-portrayed and I felt completely drawn into each of their lives. The complicated relationships between the characters and the secrets they have kept feel real and relatable. I really enjoyed how the author provided real historical events over the decades as a backdrop to the family’s history. I also appreciated that the author provided a family tree to help keep all the characters straight. I truly enjoyed this moving tale of love and loyalty between parents and children, brothers and sisters and husbands and wives and highly recommend it!
Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg’s debut novel Eden poignantly proves the adage, all that glitters is not gold. The wealth and privilege of the Meisters give way to the reality of the secrets and sorrows that each family member harbors. All is played out in the summer days at the family compound on the ocean in Rhode Island. Blasberg reminds us it’s never too late to learn from the past and redefine the meaning of family.