This Other Eden

Inspired by a real historical community, Paul Harding’s This Other Eden tells the story of an island settlement founded by formerly enslaved people and their descendants. Harding’s lyrical prose brings to life a community shaped by resilience and vulnerability as outside forces threaten its existence. The novel grapples with race, belonging, and the violence of displacement, all within a richly imagined, almost mythic setting. Harding’s storytelling is both elegiac and sharply observed, making this a powerful meditation on survival and erasure.