Rowing In Eden: A Novel

by Elizabeth Evans

Lately, more and more, "cool" struck her as conjured, a thing that hurt the soul of both its practitioners and admirers. Franny wanted passion. Passion could hurt you, too, of course, but passion was not fake. Pynch Lake is quiet nine months of the year but bursts into life each summer when the vacationers arrive. In the summer of 1965, year-round residents Harold and Peg Wahl find the world that once belonged to them is now being taken over by their older daughters, returned from college for the summer. Cool and self-possessed Rosamund is receiving the attention of the family friend who formerly courted Peg. Martie is filling the house with parties and houseguests of her own. No one in the family is paying much attention to the precocious thirteen-year-old Franny, who sets out to find a life of her own -- and, in the process, turns the Wahl family upside down. In rich and lyrical language, Elizabeth Evans, author of the critically acclaimed novels Carter Clay and The Blue Hour, has created both a profound meditation and a haunting story about the promises and betrayals of love.

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

Elizabeth Evans was born, raised, and educated in Iowa. She attended Cornell College and the University of Iowa, where she received a Master of Fine Arts degree at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Evans is the author of six books of fiction: As Good As Dead (March 2015), Rowing in Eden, Carter Clay, which was selected by the Los Angeles Times Book Review for the Best Books of 1999, and The Blue Hour, which the Washington Post Book World called "very much a Great American Novel." Her two short story collections are Suicide's Girlfriend and Locomotion. Recent stories appear in the journals Ploughshares and Cutthroat, and the collection xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths.

Evans is Professor Emeritus for the Program in Creative Writing at the University of Arizona, and frequently teaches for Queens University of Charlotte's Low-residence MFA Program in Creative Writing. She makes her home in Tucson, Arizona.

Reviews

[Lauren]

A coming of age story in the midst of sisters and a small rough town. I could relate a lot to the character Franny with her head in books and writing poetry and fawning over older boys unbearably handsome and so out of reach. Then all the uncomfortable things that happen as you try to grow up and girls who betray you or turn on you,rather familiar. well written and the awkwardness of clothes which never seem right and hair that is wrong and the need to be apart from parents but need them at the same time.

[Barbara]

Thirteen year old Franny lives in a dysfunctional family with a father who drinks, a mother who keeps up the family facade, and two older, college-age sisters. Everyone parties at the lake, everyone conforms outwardly to the sixties' culture. But underneath, no one is really living out the approved life. Franny lives a pretty exciting life for a young lady, and the author gets the tone of life at that time just right, I think. Franny's observations and colorful emotional life and descriptions held my attention.

Sister Martie: "Hey, I'm doing what you guys want, aren't I? I thought you were happy with me."

[Tim]

A coming-of-age story about a teen girl is way outside my wheelhouse, but "Rowing in Eden" is a smart, generally involving read.

Pretty 13-year-old Franny Wahl finds herself somewhat invisible to the rest of her family but starts to realize the power and heartache of growing up. The backdrop is obviously a fictional version of the Iowa Great Lakes, which was one of the hooks that pulled me in. Nicely done.

[Jess]

2.5 Stars