{"product_id":"this-other-eden-9781324036296","title":"This Other Eden","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1792, formerly enslaved Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife, Patience, discover an island where they can make a life together. Over a century later, the Honeys' descendants and a diverse group of neighbors are desperately poor, isolated, and often hungry, but nevertheless protected from the hostility awaiting them on the mainland.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring the tumultuous summer of 1912, Matthew Diamond, a retired, idealistic but prejudiced schoolteacher-turned-missionary, disrupts the community's fragile balance through his efforts to educate its children. His presence attracts the attention of authorities on the mainland who, under the influence of the eugenics-thinking popular among progressives of the day, decide to forcibly evacuate the island, institutionalize its residents, and develop the island as a vacation destination. Beginning with a hurricane flood reminiscent of the story of Noah's Ark, the novel ends with yet another Ark.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn prose of breathtaking beauty and power, Paul Harding brings to life an unforgettable cast of characters: Iris and Violet McDermott, sisters raising three orphaned Penobscot children; Theophilus and Candace Larks and their brood of vagabond children; the prophetic Zachary Hand to God Proverbs, a Civil War veteran who lives in a hollow tree; and more. A spellbinding story of resistance and survival, \u003cem\u003eThis Other Eden\u003c\/em\u003e is an enduring testament to the struggle to preserve human dignity in the face of intolerance and injustice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50582263333138,"sku":"9781324036296","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f26e4e9a-78e6-4ac9-902b-bfc600689fe8.jpg?v=1732020092","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/this-other-eden-9781324036296","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}