First, I would like to thank William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers for sending me this uncorrected proof. In return, I am providing an unpaid review of the book containing my personal opinions of Naslund's newest novel Adam and Eve. In her two previous novels, Ahab's Wife and Abundance, the author brought a fictional character to life - Ahab's wife (from Moby Dick) and took a real life character - Marie Antionette, into a fictional world. In her latest novel, Naslund wraps her characters around ancient religious symbols and texts - moving from Amsterdam, to Eden (somewhere in the Middle East), to France.Lucy Bergmann was in Amsterdam when her husband was killed. Shortly before his death Thom, an astrophysicist, had given Lucy his flash drive with the quip that it was the keys to the kingdom. And the kingdom included extraterrestrial life! He could prove it. At this point, I was thinking, oh brother ~ another one of these stories ~ but I persevered! And I loved this book.
The book bounces back and forth in time, but is easy to follow. We meet people who are to help Lucy, like Adam who finds himself adrift from a war he never believed in - adrift in Eden. Alone until Lucy ~ his Eve ~ crashes a plane nearby. Together they look for a case Lucy was carrying ~ holding ancient biblical texts. Lucy and Adam are not the only people searching for them and the two find themselves in the center of a battle between the three main ancient religions.
I was glued to this book from beginning to end. I had to hear what the ancient texts said, I had to follow Adam and Lucy in Eden, I had to know who the bad guys were, and was there a happily ever after? I hope that you will grab this book and spend some time with it. I plan to read it again as soon as I can and check out the author's previous two books as well.
TITLE: Adam & Eve: A Novel
AUTHOR: Sena Jeter Naslund
COPYRIGHT: September 2010
PAGES: 335
TYPE: fiction
RECOMMEND: I found this to be a beautiful book that provoked joy and deep thinking about our place in the universe. A perfect blend of mystery, faith, and beauty.
7 comments:
WOW, I just posted this on LibraryThing and Very few people liked this book! I was so surprised. Just goes to show you that there is a book for everyone and someone for each book!!
Thanks for the review. It's hard to wrap one's head around the setting and context you've described, but nevertheless it sounds appealing. I can't help but think it must contain a hint of "theater of the absurd", but with the theme of ancient religions and symbology, most likely not. I'll have to go sample it out on my kindle.
Actually, this sounds pretty interesting -- I might have to check this one out!
Thanks for the excellent review, sparking curiosity in me...I will more than likely buy it.
Found you on Lori's Linky for Show Me The Money Fun.
Cute blog....never visited before.
Hmmm . . . I am unsure about whether or not I will give this one a chance.
This sounds strangely fascinating ... onto the TBR list it goes!
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