This Other Eden (Harding novel)

This article is about the novel by Paul Harding. For the novel by Ben Elton, see This Other Eden (Elton novel).

This Other Eden is a 2023 novel by American writer Paul Harding.

This Other Eden

Author	Paul Harding
Language	English
Publication date	2023

Background

The novel presents a fictionalized version of Maine's Malaga Island, dubbed "Apple Island" in the book.^[1] It's based on the historical record of when "Maine forcibly removed all residents of a mixed-race fishing community on a small island off the coast of Phippsburg in 1912."^[2]

Harding began the earliest version of the novel by writing a scene featuring Mrs. Hale, a character from his novel Enon.^[3] In the scene, Mrs. Hale and members of her family sit in a meadow, and observe an unknown person, inspired by a Charles Ethan Porter painting.^[3]

Reception

Danez Smith, in a review published by The New York Times, praised Harding's prose.^[4] In a review published by the Financial Times, Catherine Taylor also praised Harding's writing.^[5]

Writing for The Los Angeles Times, Mark Athitakis compared the book unfavorably to Harding's previous works.^[6] Athitakis also wrote that Harding's writing was "fussed over".^[6]

Some historians and those with family ties to the island claimed the novel includes harmful myths about the island's residents that historians have tried to correct.^[7]

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2023	Booker Prize	—	Shortlisted	[8]
	National Book Award	Fiction	Finalist	[9]
2024	Chautauqua Prize	—	Shortlisted	[10]
	International Dublin Literary Award	—	Longlisted	[11]
	Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award	—	Finalist	[12]