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Esther Honey is a descendant of European, African, and Native American ancestry and the matriarch of Apple Island who is one of the most pivotal characters of the whole story.

When Matthew Diamond arrives on the island, she is capable of predicting the damage he could cause to the community on the island, despite his good intentions, and her trauma-filled background helps to make her an interesting character, as it helps to showcase just how much suffering a lot of the islanders have had to bare, even before the main events of the novel. The character of Esther gives Paul Harding the ability to share a Black perspective on the racism of the time, as well as give a perspective to how the events such as the eviction of the real-life Malaga island hurt the islanders who had lived on them.

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Matthew Diamond is a retired school teacher and missionary who comes to Apple Island to educate the island's kids on behalf of the Relief Society. Matthew Diamond is neither a traditional hero nor villain, as while his goals are noble, he also holds some horrid views and is repulsed by people of color, and ends up causing destruction to the islander's lifestyle unintentionally in his attempts to help. Paul Harding uses Matthew Diamond to represent the white saviors present back then, white people who believed they had a duty to help "save" black people, although in this case, Matthew only ends up bringing ruin to the islanders, showcasing the flaws behind this ideology.

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Our group rated the book The Other Eden 2.5 out of 5 

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Our group rated the book The Other Eden 2.5 out of 5 

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While the discussions held regarding the book and its topics were interesting, actually reading the novel was a boring experience. While the level of detail is impressive, there's too much of it, and the descriptions that can often go on and on for multiple paragraphs made the book feel like it was going on for too long. Not only that, but it was hard to care much about a majority of the characters, since a big chunk of them, rather than being introduced organically, have their personalities simply explained away at the start of the novel, with there not being enough moments starring them to make them interesting within the rest of the story. As a result, we rated the novel a 2.5/5, as while it was boring, it wasn't outright bad and some of the discussions it helped bring to life when were done reading helped to make up for that.

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Near the start of the novel, Esther Honey, the elder of the island, tells a story about Benjamin and Patience Honey, the original inhabitants of the island and their ancestors. Within the story, she talks about how they had a dream to foster and plant apple trees, but a storm would come and destroy their orchid, as well as kill some of their family members rendering these dreams destroyed. This parallels what happens within the current era of the book, where the inhabitants of the island wish to be left in peace, but are forced to leave and separate, with their homes being destroyed so a hotel could be built.

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Ethan Honey is a young boy who has a natural artistic talent, whilst also having a light enough skin tone that allows him to blend in among white people. Upon seeing these two details, Matthew Diamond takes it upon himself to try and free Ethan from the fate of the island and arranges for him to be sent to the estate of his old friend, Mr. Hale, where he can have refuge and spend the summer painting before eventually being sent off to an art school.

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This Other Eden is a book that focuses on racism, and its effect on minorities in the past and present. Nearly every colored or minority character in the novel faces some type of racism towards them, and the novel attempts to showcase the ruin that racism had caused in the United States in the early 20th century. This is highlighted primarily through the treatment of the islanders, who have no say in what happens to them when the Government gets involved with the affairs of the island, with them being treated poorly overall due to their race. This is further shown through how the book highlights how ridiculous this focus on race was, as characters with lighter skin tones are shown to have more opportunities and can blend in amongst white individuals, despite at the end of the day still being colored folk, showing that there truly is no difference between the two races outside of appearance if those with lighter skin colors can blend in so easily.

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This Other Eden is a novel that takes place in the 1900s, focusing on a group of islanders living separately from the rest of the mainland. The islanders consist of a few families, such as the Honeys, the McDermotts, and the Larks, as well as a few others such as Zachary Hand to God Proverbs, who all live together in peace. Things aren't perfect, however, as several of the inhabitants of the island struggle with birth defects, and trauma, but they manage to survive regardless.

Their way of life, however, is jumbled when Matthew Diamond, a teacher, comes to the island in an attempt to try and educate the children present there. While these intentions are noble, they cause a domino effect, attracting the attention of the Government. Upon seeing the poor condition of some of the inhabitants, such as the Lark children, who are the result of an incestuous relationship, they decide to try and take action, forever changing the lives of these islanders, making the tale a criticism of the real-life events and island take-overs these books are based upon.

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One of the big themes of This Other Eden revolves around its intensive focus on the pitfalls and consequences of white Saviorism, which is the idea that white people have to save or rescue minorities and people of color. This is seen especially in characters like Matthew Diamond, who comes to the island to teach the children, and attempts to send one of the children off to live a better life, yet only ends up making things worse in the end.

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In a review posted on Bookreporter, Harvey Freedenberg showers the novel with praise, and is an overall fan of Harding and his previous works. He argues that This Other Eden is an unforgivable story, despite its short length, and believes that the book asks the readers “What does it mean to be a civilized human being," as it attempts to offer a vivid depiction of individuals in harsh situations, rather than try to idealize the difficulties these islanders face.

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“This Other Eden by Paul Harding review – a novel that impresses time and again.” - Abhrajyoti Chakraborty

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“This Other Eden by Paul Harding review – a novel that impresses time and again.” - Abhrajyoti Chakraborty

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Posted upon The Guardian, Abhrajyoti Chakraborty gives a positive review regarding the novel where she showcases her enjoyment of the writing style used within the book, going so far as to call the writing a “breathless angelic light," and overall, she showcases no real issues that she had with the book.

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"Paul Harding’s modest debut won a surprise Pulitzer. His third novel aims too high" - Mark Athitakis

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"Paul Harding’s modest debut won a surprise Pulitzer. His third novel aims too high" - Mark Athitakis

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Unlike most other reviewers, Mark Athitakies, who wrote a review for This Other Eden in the Los Angeles Times, gave the book a much more negative review. While he would admit that the book had some good moments, like how he believed the sensitive coming-of-age story revolving around Ethan Honey held a lot of potential, he ultimately believes that the story is dragged down by Harding's writing style full of things like run-on sentences, and how the story consistently tries to attach symbolic imagery to everything when it's unneeded. As a result, Mark argues that in the future, Paul Harding needs his works to be “more than a pastiche of recycled rhetoric and ancient symbolism.”

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This Other Eden would be a historical fiction, primarily because the story takes place in the 1900s, and the fact that is loosely based upon the real-life eviction of residents on Malaga Island in 1912. The story could also qualify as a tragedy, as the fates of most of the characters are left off either in a worse state than before, or are just left unknown.