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Leaving Eden
“The promise of beauty—the kind of real, personal beauty that can transform a person’s life—arrived in Eden, Virginia, on the fourth Thursday in June.” That’s the day Tallie Brock sees the sign at the Klip-N-Kurl, the beauty parlor where she works part-time, sweeping the floor and refilling shampoo bottles, among other chores. (What she really enjoys is listening to the women chat, gossip, and buzz like a beehive.) The sign in the front window announces GLAMOUR DAY. For twenty dollars, a woman can receive a complete professional makeover—and a glossy nine-by-twelve-inch picture of the result.
For Tallie, the glam shot just may be her ticket out of Lovettsville. She dreams of someday going to Hollywood and becoming a Star. Her mother, who was the spitting image of Natalie Wood, used to say “the sky’s the limit.” In fact, her mother once left home to make a movie in Los Angeles. But she returned six months later without whispering a word about it—and tried to pick up her life right where she left off. Tallie noticed something different, though. And her mother’s best friend, Martha Lee, the plainest woman within miles, knew the secret that soon the whole town would discover. At the time, Tallie was just afraid her mother would get antsy and disappear again. She was only half right.
But that was four years ago, and now Glamour Day is fast approaching. While jotting down observations in her Rulebook for Living (such as “Women with fat faces shouldn’t wear bangs” and “Beetles signify change”), Tallie finds herself changing in unexpected ways—as she tests the limits of trust, explores her growing attraction to a boy from a family as rich as her imagination, and reaches for the sky like she has never done before.
By turns funny and tender, joyous and poignant, bestselling author Anne LeClaire has written a winning, stylish novel of small-town Southern life— and what it means to be a mother, daughter, best friend, wife, and lover.
For Tallie, the glam shot just may be her ticket out of Lovettsville. She dreams of someday going to Hollywood and becoming a Star. Her mother, who was the spitting image of Natalie Wood, used to say “the sky’s the limit.” In fact, her mother once left home to make a movie in Los Angeles. But she returned six months later without whispering a word about it—and tried to pick up her life right where she left off. Tallie noticed something different, though. And her mother’s best friend, Martha Lee, the plainest woman within miles, knew the secret that soon the whole town would discover. At the time, Tallie was just afraid her mother would get antsy and disappear again. She was only half right.
But that was four years ago, and now Glamour Day is fast approaching. While jotting down observations in her Rulebook for Living (such as “Women with fat faces shouldn’t wear bangs” and “Beetles signify change”), Tallie finds herself changing in unexpected ways—as she tests the limits of trust, explores her growing attraction to a boy from a family as rich as her imagination, and reaches for the sky like she has never done before.
By turns funny and tender, joyous and poignant, bestselling author Anne LeClaire has written a winning, stylish novel of small-town Southern life— and what it means to be a mother, daughter, best friend, wife, and lover.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
11 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Anne D. LeClaire
30 books99 followersI grew up on a farm in a small town in Western Massachusetts, the middle of three daughters of a school teacher mother and an electrician father. I was the family "story-teller," not always meant in the good way. In fact, I love that while I was once punished for making up stories, I now get paid for it.
Okay, so I was a small town girl. But my ambitions were as fanciful as they were impractical. My early career choices were fueled by dreams nurtured in our town library where books fired my imagination. At various times I dreamt of being an FBI agent, a girl detective, a pilot, a spy and a cow girl.
I'm a graduate of the MacDuffie School in Springfield, Massachusetts and an alumna of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, Massachusetts and Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
I met my future husband, Hillary, while on summer break from college. It's a classic summer story. Co-ed goes to Cape Cod for a summer job, meets and falls in love with a native and ends up living on the Cape. We now live in the seaside village of South Chatham and have two children, Hope D’Avril and Christopher, and sixteen chickens.
While raising a family, I was no closer to being the F.B.I. agent or cowgirl but did work as a radio broadcaster, an actress, a journalist and a correspondent for The Boston Globe. My work appeared in The New York Times, Redbook, and Yankee magazine, among others.
It wasn't until 1983 that, pursuing a long-held dream and encouraged by the fiction editor of Yankee, I quit my journalism jobs and began a novel, Land’s End, which was published by Bantam Books in 1985. I have since written eight other novels, including the critically acclaimed Entering Normal, The Lavender Hour, and Leaving Eden. My work has been published in many countries including Great Britain, Italy, Greece, France, Japan, Germany, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Czechoslovakia, Slovakia, Netherlands, Brazil and Israel.
My first book-length non-fiction, Listening Below the Noise, is a meditation on the practice of silence. In addition to novels and the memoir, I write short stories and essays. I also teach and lecture here and abroad on the creative process, as well as on the practice of silence. I have taught creative writing on Cape Cod, in France, Ireland and Jamaica, at the Maui Writers Conference, and to women in prison.
My essays have been included in a number of anthologies, among them I’ve Always Meant to Tell You, Letters to Our Mothers: An Anthology of Contemporary Women Writers; From Daughters and Sons to Fathers: What I’ve Never Said; and A Sense of Place: An Anthology of Cape Women Writers.
My interests are gardening, yoga, theater, travel and aviation (I am a private pilot). I'm also interested in genealogy and am a cousin of the poet Emily Dickinson.
Okay, so I was a small town girl. But my ambitions were as fanciful as they were impractical. My early career choices were fueled by dreams nurtured in our town library where books fired my imagination. At various times I dreamt of being an FBI agent, a girl detective, a pilot, a spy and a cow girl.
I'm a graduate of the MacDuffie School in Springfield, Massachusetts and an alumna of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, Massachusetts and Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
I met my future husband, Hillary, while on summer break from college. It's a classic summer story. Co-ed goes to Cape Cod for a summer job, meets and falls in love with a native and ends up living on the Cape. We now live in the seaside village of South Chatham and have two children, Hope D’Avril and Christopher, and sixteen chickens.
While raising a family, I was no closer to being the F.B.I. agent or cowgirl but did work as a radio broadcaster, an actress, a journalist and a correspondent for The Boston Globe. My work appeared in The New York Times, Redbook, and Yankee magazine, among others.
It wasn't until 1983 that, pursuing a long-held dream and encouraged by the fiction editor of Yankee, I quit my journalism jobs and began a novel, Land’s End, which was published by Bantam Books in 1985. I have since written eight other novels, including the critically acclaimed Entering Normal, The Lavender Hour, and Leaving Eden. My work has been published in many countries including Great Britain, Italy, Greece, France, Japan, Germany, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Czechoslovakia, Slovakia, Netherlands, Brazil and Israel.
My first book-length non-fiction, Listening Below the Noise, is a meditation on the practice of silence. In addition to novels and the memoir, I write short stories and essays. I also teach and lecture here and abroad on the creative process, as well as on the practice of silence. I have taught creative writing on Cape Cod, in France, Ireland and Jamaica, at the Maui Writers Conference, and to women in prison.
My essays have been included in a number of anthologies, among them I’ve Always Meant to Tell You, Letters to Our Mothers: An Anthology of Contemporary Women Writers; From Daughters and Sons to Fathers: What I’ve Never Said; and A Sense of Place: An Anthology of Cape Women Writers.
My interests are gardening, yoga, theater, travel and aviation (I am a private pilot). I'm also interested in genealogy and am a cousin of the poet Emily Dickinson.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
October 2, 2011
Now this is what I'm talking about. A beautiful believable book that weaves its way into your heart - I loved the main character and I loved the flow of language from this author. A coming of age book about a motherless girl who must find out all that stuff that most of us are fortunate enough to find out from our moms along the way. You couldn't help but root for this girl. Wonderfully written.
June 4, 2023
Easy read and loved the writing style… But felt it was without a plot until the last 5 chapters. I wish we had a bit more mystery to the story early on instead of waiting until the end.
February 8, 2014
I absolutely LOVED this book! After I finished it, I immediately wanted to read more about Tallie and her adventures in Eden. Anne D LeClaire gives us a little bit of everything; romance, family, friendship, career, travel.. you name it! And if you are a fan of Natalie Wood, you will REALLY love it, because Natalie is a prominent 'character' in 'Eden' I love that the book takes place in modern times, but it reads as though it takes place in the 50's. It has that small-town feel, and the thing I loved most about this book was how Tallie would describe things and people most notably, that someone was as 'Dependable as a ceiling fan.' Not sure what that means, but it has certainly stuck in my mind! PS: Tallie has a unique way of describing a certain regular event in her life... a phrase that women will find very useful!
May 9, 2014
The story is narrated by Tallie (Natasha) Brock, the protagonist. She leaves in a sleepy little town called Eden (imaginary) in Virginia, USA. She narrates her life through her teenage years and her relationship with her mother, who passed away when she was just twelve. She maintains a rule-book where she jots down do's and don'ts, things she learned from her mother and ladies who come to the beauty parlour where she worked, and also the lessons she learnt she learned from her own experiences. View my full review at NatashazWords
May 5, 2019
This book was okay. It's about a young girl chasing a dream, trying to find her place in the world and coping with the loss of her mother.
I like thats its southern and charming. I liked the quirky cast of characters.
I did not like the relationship between Tallie and Spy. It really lacked depth for me and I just didn't care very much. I did not like all the teen sex and abortion. I did not like how slow the beginning of the book was. I did not really like Tallie's diary entries. I thought the concept was good, but the execution was a little weird. I also wish they would've used someone other than Natalie Wood as the starlet because I didn't know who she was before and it made me lack a connection since I couldn't really visualize who that was. I also did not like the "witch" aspect of this story.
Overall I don't have a lot of feelings about this book because it was just meh. Very quick and forgettable.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
The book is about Tallie. Her mom had always wanted to be a Hollywood actress. She is beautiful and looks like Natalie Wood. That is mentioned repeatedly throughout the book. The mom left Tallie and her dad to go pursue her dream. Tallie is sad about it and just dreams of the day when her mom will come back. Then one day she does and Tallie is so happy but doesn't trust that she's going to stay. However, as time goes on, she discovers her mom has cancer. The mom eventually dies and leaves her yet again, though in a very different circumstance.
Tallie is left unsure of how she fits into the world. She works at the Klip n Kurl hair salon and hears all of the town gossip. In fact, talking about townspeople is what fills the whole first half of this book. Tallie steals money from her mom's best friend so she can get a glamour shot done when a contest comes to town. She thinks maybe she'll get discovered and be able to fulfill her dream of being an actress like her mom. However, she realizes that its not her dream, its her moms. She consults the town "witch" who can see people's futures, etc., steals money from her boss, and goes to Hollywood and meets a girl there who ends up being her sister. She found the girl's name written on a piece of paper of her moms.
She also has a love story with the "popular" guy that she likes. However, he kills his dad. Huh? She has a pregnancy scare and thinks she may get an abortion but then she's not actually pregnant.
I like thats its southern and charming. I liked the quirky cast of characters.
I did not like the relationship between Tallie and Spy. It really lacked depth for me and I just didn't care very much. I did not like all the teen sex and abortion. I did not like how slow the beginning of the book was. I did not really like Tallie's diary entries. I thought the concept was good, but the execution was a little weird. I also wish they would've used someone other than Natalie Wood as the starlet because I didn't know who she was before and it made me lack a connection since I couldn't really visualize who that was. I also did not like the "witch" aspect of this story.
Overall I don't have a lot of feelings about this book because it was just meh. Very quick and forgettable.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
The book is about Tallie. Her mom had always wanted to be a Hollywood actress. She is beautiful and looks like Natalie Wood. That is mentioned repeatedly throughout the book. The mom left Tallie and her dad to go pursue her dream. Tallie is sad about it and just dreams of the day when her mom will come back. Then one day she does and Tallie is so happy but doesn't trust that she's going to stay. However, as time goes on, she discovers her mom has cancer. The mom eventually dies and leaves her yet again, though in a very different circumstance.
Tallie is left unsure of how she fits into the world. She works at the Klip n Kurl hair salon and hears all of the town gossip. In fact, talking about townspeople is what fills the whole first half of this book. Tallie steals money from her mom's best friend so she can get a glamour shot done when a contest comes to town. She thinks maybe she'll get discovered and be able to fulfill her dream of being an actress like her mom. However, she realizes that its not her dream, its her moms. She consults the town "witch" who can see people's futures, etc., steals money from her boss, and goes to Hollywood and meets a girl there who ends up being her sister. She found the girl's name written on a piece of paper of her moms.
She also has a love story with the "popular" guy that she likes. However, he kills his dad. Huh? She has a pregnancy scare and thinks she may get an abortion but then she's not actually pregnant.
June 18, 2024
At last a story so beautiful, weaving through your heart. Thought-provoking outlook has never been this soft and placid.
In attaining the unknown future, many characters took different choices and surpise. Surprise. Surprise. That led to a many bittersweet trajectory. Even those paths that led astray are described as sweetly as though it was never in vain.
The main character (Tallie) described full measure about what it felt like to be 'neglected' to the figure she admired. Her mother. Whom star-ego is as big as her sacrifice to her own kid(s). But even after all the losses/ mischievous secrets rear its head, the miracles with the purest intention will always shine through.
And much like the reality, with much affliction surprises both the projecting and receiving end, at the end it's always been love that thrives.
The end feels a little too rushed though, but the losses still lingers to my heart like an impossible wanting.
In attaining the unknown future, many characters took different choices and surpise. Surprise. Surprise. That led to a many bittersweet trajectory. Even those paths that led astray are described as sweetly as though it was never in vain.
The main character (Tallie) described full measure about what it felt like to be 'neglected' to the figure she admired. Her mother. Whom star-ego is as big as her sacrifice to her own kid(s). But even after all the losses/ mischievous secrets rear its head, the miracles with the purest intention will always shine through.
And much like the reality, with much affliction surprises both the projecting and receiving end, at the end it's always been love that thrives.
The end feels a little too rushed though, but the losses still lingers to my heart like an impossible wanting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2021
Tallie Brock lives in the small town of Eden, where everyone knows everyone and all their doings. Tallie's mother left her to go to Hollywood to pursue her dream and although Tallie is rooting for her Mom she misses her and is overjoyed when she returns home, without talking about her 6 months in Hollywood. This is a book about love and the things we do for it, good and bad and how in finding ourselves sometimes we have to let go of another. A lovely coming of age story.
July 29, 2024
This was a charming little coming-of-age story. Tallie, whose deceased mom looked like Natalie Wood, longs for a bigger life than the one she finds in Eden, Virginia. Her big chance comes when the Klip-n-Kurl beauty parlor is offering a Day of Beauty, in which she can have a "complete professional makeover" and have her portrait done by a professional photographer. This leads to some questionable choices and a lot of learning.
July 13, 2018
Two things often come to my mind while thinking about this book , Natalie woods, a Hollywood actress, whose name i never heard before reading this book . And the second thing is Talie's Diary, in the book she often listen to the gossips of other people and make notes of some valuable key points from their conversation. All i could feel in the Book was How Talie missed her mother..
April 23, 2020
The first person narration of this coming of age story seemed to ring pretty true to me. I had to chuckle at a sentence about waiting for an elderly woman using a walker to make it down an aisle - - Tallie describes her as taking hours, etc. My only complaint about this novel is that the ending seemed kind of rushed, but isn't that a vice of quite a few novels?
September 21, 2022
Leaving Eden is a tale about a young girl raised in a small town and forced be without a mother during the critical time when she changed from a girl into a woman. She tried to emulate her mother’s dream but in the end found her own happiness. Anne D. LeClaire put a lot of thought and details into this thought-provoking novel.
January 21, 2018
What a lovely book. This was very well written and a joy to read. Interesting characters and a plot that was common, yet unrivaled. Hard to do for sure. Plenty of wisdom packed into this little book.
March 13, 2022
Honestly bleh. Didn't hold my attention I had to take a 6 month break and only finished it because I hate not finishing books. The ending was not a big deal really it fel rushed, made no sense, and it was like adding elements at the end hoping It would make it better.
October 1, 2017
Not the type of story I like to read. Not bad though.
257 pages
257 pages
April 26, 2018
Cute, formulaic feel good book.
May 7, 2019
Well written story set in the mountains of Virginia. Bittersweet story line; easy flowing narration and dialogue. Who knew women could see the future in soap bubbles?
May 7, 2020
An interesting read. There is some adult situations with description that I could do without.
May 28, 2021
Leaving Eden is my annual summer read. It is a ritualistic, energizing, calming endeavor I undertake, and to think that I stumbled upon the story in a Reader's Digest!
June 6, 2021
Perfectly fine. Sweet growing up story with maybe a little too much going on. One of those books that found it's way onto my bookshelf as a kid and never read. Good for a summer read.
November 24, 2023
3.5 Stars.
March 9, 2020
good story
August 12, 2011
The first two thirds of the book move really slowly and the book was not as funny as I'd expected. The page of "Tallie's Book" that concludes each chapter seemed really contrived to me.
I did not understand the great love between Tallie and Spy. They seemed to do more making out than really hanging out with each other and getting to know each other. That part seemed really superficial to me.
The final chapters were the best of the book.
Overall, I think there are much better books out there about life in a small Southern town-books with more warmth, humor, and truth.
I did not understand the great love between Tallie and Spy. They seemed to do more making out than really hanging out with each other and getting to know each other. That part seemed really superficial to me.
The final chapters were the best of the book.
Overall, I think there are much better books out there about life in a small Southern town-books with more warmth, humor, and truth.
October 13, 2011
actually I liked the story, the narration- very simple, lucid- the story unfolds from the view point of a young girl- there is continous slipping into the past…and returning to the present- her mother is dead, and she misses her mother terribly- she longs for her mother- and yet she feels her mother guiding her constantly- it is a kind of calm flowing story, in spite of a murder, and a bit of mystery hovering her mother’s past..and yet ..there is something very placid about the story flow… when I came to the end of the story it was like, I wanted more..
April 21, 2013
I can honestly say I never read a book written from the perspective of a teen-age girl before.
Now I can say that I have.
I didn't know what to expect. But I found enjoyment in the reading of the story. The character, Tallie Brock, was well written and developed. She was made "alive" through the descriptions of feelings about events in her town of Eden, Virginia, and her feelings about other characters and the changes going on in her life and those around her.
Now I can say that I have.
I didn't know what to expect. But I found enjoyment in the reading of the story. The character, Tallie Brock, was well written and developed. She was made "alive" through the descriptions of feelings about events in her town of Eden, Virginia, and her feelings about other characters and the changes going on in her life and those around her.
January 4, 2012
I love, LOVE this book. I read it during my gawky years, and even now take up on it time and again.A beautiful growing up story, a girl coming on to her own. Big hearted people, tough choices. A must read if you liked Black beauty and Heidi. Can anybody recommend me books like these? Please, and no paranormal stuff?
September 1, 2015
Every once in a while as a reader you come across a book that speaks to you at some moment and with the right words. You find the book soothing, understanding and true because at that point in your life it just found its way to you.
I am glad that I read this book and that Natalie Mae's coming of age felt like my journey too.
I am glad that I read this book and that Natalie Mae's coming of age felt like my journey too.
December 4, 2016
A charming story of love, friendship, and family secrets. I'm glad to have discovered this author. A coming of age tale of a teen girl in a small town who idolizes her mother, right or wrong. She goes through some awful growing pains, losses, and real tragedies. She dreams about nothing but getting the hell out of this town, but when she does, she finds more than she ever expected.
February 26, 2008
I actually really enjoyed this book. I bought it for next to nothing while on vacation in Seattle. I could really relate to Virginia and her struggle to fit in while growing up in a small town. The characters seem so real I couldn't help but like them.
July 14, 2008
I had read this book a long time ago, but couldn't remember the storyline. I absolutely loved Tallie and her mama. I read this book in one day; couldn't put it down. A very tender and poignant coming of age story.
July 10, 2014
Het begin was even moeilijk om door te geraken, maar naar mate het verhaal vorderde werd het enkel maar mooier en ontroerender. Je blijft achter met een voldaan gevoel, wat ik persoonlijk wel belangrijk vind. Een goed boek voor op vakantie in de luie strandstoel
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews