Title: Adam & Eve
Author: Sena Jeter Naslund
Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition
Publication Date: July 26, 2011
Paperback: 384 pages
ISBN: 978-0061579288
Genre: Fiction
By decoding light from space, Lucy Bergmann’s astrophysicist husband discovers the existence of extraterrestrial life; their friend, anthropologist Pierre Saad, unearths from the sands of Egypt an ancient alternative version of the Book of Genesis. To religious fanatics, these discoveries have the power to rock the foundations of their faith. Entrusted to deliver this revolutionary news to both the scientific and religious communities, Lucy becomes the target of Perpetuity, a secret society. When her small plane crashes, Lucy finds herself in a place called Eden with an American soldier named Adam, whose quest for both spiritual and carnal knowledge has driven him to madness.
Set against the searing debate between evolutionists and creationists, Adam & Eve is a thriller, a romance, an adventure, an idyll—a tour de force from Sena Jeter Naslund, one of the most imaginative and inspired writers of our time.
My Review:
Adam and Eve by Sena Jeter Naslund is a very interesting novel that explores the neverending battle between evolutionary scientific evidence and creationist beliefs through the experiences of Lucy and Thom Bergmann. Set in the period about the year 2020, when Thom collects evidence for extraterrestrial life, he entrusts the information only to Lucy as Thom calculates that the world would not be prepared to receive such knowledge. Naslund writes an interesting plot that takes readers alongside Lucy as she works to keep her now late husband’s information from becoming public knowledge. In what is slightly too coincidental, Lucy is contacted by her late husband’s colleague who has discovered an alternate form of the book of Genesis and now Lucy must keep that information from leaking out as well. The book’s title is an allusion to the place where Lucy finds herself after her small aircraft crashes in a place called Eden where she meets Adam, an American soldier who is not sane. While I am not a fan of futuristic tales such as Adam and Eve, the basic theme of the divide between science and religion is truly engaging. Naslund crafts a compelling tale in which she chose to pull out all stops to develop the plot, but unfortunately in doing so, the book’s overall coherence and direction appear blurred and misguided. For me, it felt as if too many low probability events happen for Lucy when Naslund’s theme could have been more compellingly developed without making so many pieces fall into place. While the novel was not in my favorite genres, Adam and Eve gives readers a lot to think about and I think fantasy/futuristic reading fans will enjoy Naslund’s Adam and Eve.
To learn more about author Sena Jeter Naslund, please visit her blog at: senajeternaslund.wordpress.com
For more reviews of the book, please follow the TLC Book Tour.
I received a copy of Adam & Eve by Sena Jeter Naslund from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
Hm, I’m not sure this one is for me.
I liked the idea of the book, however for lack of a better word term, the magical elements contained within the book I did not care for. The book takes places in 2020, which should have been my first clue. The writing is lovely, as I expected from Sena Jeter Naslund, it was the genres (yes the book has a few) that I simply do not enjoy reading.
Not at all what I thought this book would be about. Does the book lean one way over the other?
That was part of the problem I had, the book was all over the place and I do not mean religiously, rather stories and scenes flipped into different genres; a beautiful love story, adventure, magical realism, and many more. Sena Jeter Naslund is a talented author, but for me, I felt as though the topic got out of control and the message got lost within the pages. I chose the book based on the synopsis and this time, for me, it did not work.
I do tend to like futuristic books and with the theme of Genesis included I just might end up liking this one. Thanks for being a part of the tour!
Then yes, I definitely suggest giving this book a go.