Eden by Jamie Lisa Forbes

Eden by Jamie Lisa Forbes seems to be mistitled as this literary novel is a coming of age story about Rowen Hart. Eden herself presents a series of complications to his life early in the story and again later in life. Rowen and his mother Rita have been reduced to poverty after the suicide of his father. Rowen is only 18 during the 1950s in White Rock, North Carolina, when these circumstances make him the head of the household who must take care of his grieving mother. To make matters worse, Rita takes in Eden, a distant relative whose father was recently murdered. Rowen had been accepted to college and that was his path until all these obligations rained down on him.

Eventually, someone came along in his life who could give him direction. Claude Lowry was a neighbor who stopped to repair the gate to Rowen’s rundown home. He recognized that Rowen is a young man ill-equipped for his circumstances. He turns into a father figure who guides this naïve young man through life. Shed of Eden and now married to Juliette though his mother still lives with him, Rowen learns the construction trade under Claude’s guidance, and after his rightful inheritance comes to him, he eventually buys Claude’s business.

Rowen is still saddled with enormous responsibilities but better able now to deal with them but still, life is draining as he tries to meet everyone else’s needs. He has never forgotten about Eden, and she comes into his life again, only to cause more trouble. Her sad life leads to more complications in Rowen’s life, and he finds her and her family to be an added responsibility for him.

I enjoyed this character-driven novel and heartily felt Rowen’s frustrations as life weighed him down. This is an engaging read, quite thought provoking. Rowen and some of the choices he made will stay with me for some time.

This is my first encounter with author Jamie Lisa Forbes. It is her second novel. She was raised on a ranch on the Little Laramie River thirty miles west of Laramie, Wyoming. Currently she lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she is an attorney with another novel in progress.