Secrets of Eden - Chris Bohjalian

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Midwives and The Double Bind comes a novel of shattered family ties, intimate secrets, and the nature of sacrifice. Few writers can manipulate a plot with Bohjalian's grace and power.--The New York Times Book Review. nNOW A LIFETIME TV MOVIE STARRING JOHN STAMOS n nFrom the bestselling author of The Double Bind, Midwives, and Skeletons at the Feast comes a novel of shattered faith, intimate secrets, and the delicate nature of sacrifice.

nThere, says Alice Hayward to Reverend Stephen Drew, just after her baptism, and just before going home to the husband who will kill her that evening and then shoot himself. Drew, tortured by the cryptic finality of that short utterance, feels his faith in God slipping away and is saved from despair only by a meeting with Heather Laurent, the author of wildly successful, inspirational books about . .

. angels. n nHeather survived a childhood that culminated in her own parents' murder-suicide, so she identifies deeply with Alice's daughter, Katie, offering herself as a mentor to the girl and a shoulder for Stephen - who flees the pulpit to be with Heather and see if there is anything to be salvaged from the spiritual wreckage around him.

nBut then the State's Attorney begins to suspect that Alice's husband may not have killed himself. . .and finds out that Alice had secrets only her minister knew.

n nSecrets of Eden is both a haunting literary thriller and a deeply evocative testament to the inner complexities that mark all of our lives. Once again Chris Bohjalian has given us a riveting page-turner in which nothing is precisely what it seems. As one character remarks, Believe no one.

Trust no one. Assume all of our stories are suspect.n