- Paperback: 265 pages
- Publisher: Harvest Books (4 Oct 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0156031337
- ISBN-13: 978-0156031332
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.9 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,837,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Shreve writes with power and passion' DAILY EXPRESS; 'Anita Shreve has a knack for wry observation and for capturing the agony of emotion' DAILY TELEGRAPH; 'EDEN CLOSE is a novel of sensibility. Its insights are keen, its language measured and haunting. In it a sense of loss and rapture is everywhere' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW; 'A first novel that turns rural gothic horrors into a story of fine, high love ... beautifully rendered scenes ... and a climax that will ... put you on the edge of your chair' KIRKUS REVIEW
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Nearly two decades of unfinished business finally demand resolution. Back in town to sell the family home after his mother's death, Andrew is drawn instead to the house next door. Eden, sexually abused and blinded the year Andrew left, lives there still, inexplicably secluded by her stepmother. Any hope of a future for either of them requires unravelling her past.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was one of those books that I simply could not put down once I'd started reading it. The emotions, the characters and the relationships that are covered in this relatively short book leave you gasping for more. The story is constantly driven by a curiosity to find out more, to find out exactly what happened to Eden that night so long ago. At the same time it moves on because you want to find out what's going to happen to Eden in the future. Although she's not the main character she's the one who carries the story into the past and back to the future, she's the central figure and at times it's frustrating that Ms Shreve doesn't really let us inside her head, but we're forced to get to know her through the much less interesting Andrew. If you're already a fan of Anita Shreve you're going to love this book. If you've never read another Anita Shreve book this is the one I'd recommend for you to start with as it shows off the true potential of the woman who later produced the masterpieces Fortune's Rock and Strange Fits of Passion.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This, the author's debut novel, is a well crafted, fictional work that keeps the reader turning its pages. The book is premised upon unfinished business in the past that needs closure, before the future can begin anew. Here, Andrew, a divorced man in his mid thirties, returns home to the upstate New York town in which he grew up, in order to attend his mother's funeral and take care of her estate. Being there, in his childhood home, brings back memories of a night, half a lifetime ago, in which his neighbor's home reverberated with the sound of gunfire, forever changing the life of his childhood friend and neighbor, Eden Close.
Adopted by Jim and Edith Close after being left in a box on their doorstep shortly after her birth, Jim lavished love and a great deal of physical affection on Eden. Edith, on the other hand, always remained strangely aloof from this beautiful child whom she seemed to view as an intrusion in their lives. Eden, friends with Andrew while growing up, was blinded in the terrible tragedy which engulfed her home one night and saw Jim Close killed. Withdrawing from the world at large, she remained a virtual recluse in her adoptive mother's home, while Andrew got on with his life, went to college, and left home.
In returning for his mother's funeral, Andrew sets about trying to unravel the mystery that has enshrouded Eden since that terrible night. The author gives the reader glimpses into the past through a series of flashbacks, which show the bittersweet relationship that Andrew and Eden had shared when younger, a bond that to this day had remained unbroken. It is this unspoken bond that prompts Andrew to try and bring Eden out of her reclusive state. It is an attempt that is to have great ramifications for all. The author weaves a seamless tapestry that fully engages the reader. It is a haunting and beautifully rendered story that will leave the reader eagerly awaiting the author's next book.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read many of Shreve's novels, I was interested to see where it all started, with this, her debut novel. All the mastery of her later writing is evident here - if anything the intensity is distilled a little in her later works. A stunning first novel, it propels the reader into the heart of a mystery and enables us to participate in the unravelling as the unanswered questions are finally given a response. The loss of time and the relationships between time, maturity, memory and true love are explored here as in the subsequent novels. A moving experience.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Eden CLose
This is the first novel by Anita Shreve. It is also my favourite. Not sure why it is not as highly rated as some of her later books, certainly not as widely read. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Apiarist
Compelling- Shreve at her best
Shreve's writing is consistently spell-binding with her beautifully elegant prose and masterful descriptions of places, scents and sounds that really have the ability to draw the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Nicola F (Nic)
Promising start, but fades at the end
Anita Shreve's debut novel is impressive in many respects, and contains the hallmarks that made many of her follow up books so interesting to read. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Jl Adcock
Well worth it
I nearly gave up on this in the first chapter as I could not get into it and follow what was happening. After that it took off and I could not put it down. Read more
Published 22 months ago by J. Shaw
Enjoyable but one thing ruined it.........
I really enjoyed this book as I found it a very intresting look into a troubled characters thoughts and emotions. However I found the ending rather shallow and pedantic. Read more
Published on 3 Jun 2010 by Grisom
Don't Bother
I have to study this book for as part of an English Language and Literature AS Level and I have to be honest and say it is melodramatic nonsense. Read more
Published on 20 April 2010 by C. Squires
coming of age story with a difference
This is the stifling story of Eden and her mother living with the legacy of an horrific night 19 years before, in which her father was killed. Read more
Published on 29 Nov 2009 by trendytracey
Eden Close
This is such an excellent book, Anita Shreve is one of my favourite authors and to read her first novel was great, i started with Fortunes Rocks which i loved so much i decided to... Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2009 by Gemma Mortlock
Disappointing novel from a first rate author
I usually love Shreve's work - she has a poetic tone that lifts her often overly-romanticised plots out of the world of Mills and Boon. Read more
Published on 6 May 2008 by Hayles
Disappointing
Very disappointing, I forced myself to finish the book! It was my first book for the author and neither the story nor the style was impressive.
Published on 1 July 2006 by Glamorgan
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