Unfettered ambition, familial schisms and dark secrets abound in THE LEGACY OF EDEN (MIRA Books, February 2012, $15.95 U.S./$18.95 CAN.), the masterful literary debut by Nelle Davy, in which a woman recounts her family’s deeply troubled and tragic history as she prepares to return to the once-grand estate she fled almost two decades earlier.
When New York sculptor Meredith Pincetti receives a letter from a law firm, alerting her to the death of her cousin, she is suddenly confronted by her disturbing past—a past she successfully escaped and buried seventeen years ago.
Informed that Aurelia, the once-grand Iowa estate and farm where she was raised, is to be sold at auction to settle her late cousin’s debts, Meredith resolves to return to her family homestead and collect the few possessions that belonged to her parents.
In doing so, Meredith recalls the spectacular rise and disastrous fall of the Hathaway family beginning with her grandfather, Cal’s, dreams and ending with his utter disappointments. We experience her grandmother, Lavinia’s, iron will and ceaseless machinations to ensure that her vision of Aurelia comes to pass. As Aurelia thrives, becoming the largest farm in the county, behind the veneer things are crumbling. Dissipation, brutality and betrayal find fertile ground in the next generation of Hathaways. Seemingly idyllic childhoods precede the exile and return of Hathaways from multiple generations—including Meredith.
And, as Meredith returns to Aurelia, she is forced to confront her own role in her family’s tortured fall from grace. What part did she play in the events that took place during her adolescence two decades earlier? How does her festering relationship with her sisters mirror similar connections between her father’s and grandfather’s siblings? What secrets did she leave behind when she fled Iowa for New York?
Though founded and overseen by male Hathaways, it is the women—Lavinia and her sister-in-law, Piper; Julia, Cal’s daughter from his first marriage; Meredith and her sisters, Claudia and Ava—who play pivotal roles in shaping the events that occur at Aurelia. And, ultimately, it is they who reveal its unspeakable secrets.
About the Author
Nelle Davy was born in Grenada in 1984 and was raised in London within an Anglo-Caribbean family. She studied English with creative writing at the University of Warwick and then undertook a master of philosophy degree in creative writing at Trinity College Dublin. She currently lives in London with her husband, where she works in publishing. THE LEGACY OF EDEN is her first novel and she is currently working on her second.
My Take on the Book
What I liked most about this book was the fact that the author has done an amazing job at developing great interplay among the characters as well as a plot that makes you keep asking for more. I found myself wanting to keep reading as it was getting later and later and wondering what will happen as decisions must be made and family history must be dealt with. If you enjoy books with are filled with many twists and turns and family history that just keeps going then this book is definitely one that you will want to read!
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