BookTalk introduces readers to a carefully chosen, provocative selection of novels for reading and informal discussion, considering the author’s writing techniques and the character’s personal journeys. Readings include translations of books from other countries and cultures in the search for fictions that illuminate the lives and understanding of those from all across the globe.
This class focuses on This Other Eden (2023) by Paul Harding. Inspired by historical events on Malaga Island off the coast of Maine, one of the first racially integrated towns in the Northeast, the third novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Tinkers was shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize. It tells the story of the fictional Apple Island and its inhabitants. The story begins in 1792 when formerly enslaved Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife, Patience, flee the mainland to make their home there. It then follows the Honeys' descendants and the diverse other inhabitants who move to this isolated and poor community with varied motives and purposes. With mesmerizing prose, Harding brings to life an unforgettable cast of characters in a story of resistance and survival in the face of intolerance and injustice.
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