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Eden Mine
In Eden Mine, the award-winning author of Black River examines the aftershocks of an act of domestic terrorism rooted in a small Montana town on the brink of abandonment, as it tears apart a family, tests the faith of a pastor and the loyalty of a sister, and mines the deep rifts that come when the reach of the government clashes with individual freedom
Jo Faber is packing up the home she and her brother Samuel inherited. For generations, the Fabers have lived near Eden Mine, but Jo and Samuel will be the last. Their family home has been seized by the state through eminent domain.
At the moment she hears the news of the bombing on the radio, Jo knows nothing, but she also knows that something isn't right. The arrival of their friend and unofficial guardian, Sheriff Hawkins, confirms her suspicions. Samuel said he was going to find work. But soon it's clear that he's not gone, but missing--last seen by a security camera near the district courthouse at Elk Fork. And a nine-year-old girl, the daughter of a pastor of a storefront church, is in critical condition.
This isn't the first time Jo and Samuel have seen the ravages of violence visit their family. Last time, they lost their mother and Jo lost her ability to walk. Samuel took care of her, outfitted their barn with special rigging so she could keep riding their mule. But he was never the same, falling in with a separatist group, getting a tattoo he'd flaunt, then spending years hiding. She thought he had finished with all that. But now he's missing, and she can't talk to the one person she trusts.
A timely story of the anger and disaffection tearing apart many communities in this country, S.M. Hulse's Eden Mine is also a beautiful novel of the West, of a deep love for the land, of faith in the face of evil, and of the terrible choices we make for the ones we love.
Jo Faber is packing up the home she and her brother Samuel inherited. For generations, the Fabers have lived near Eden Mine, but Jo and Samuel will be the last. Their family home has been seized by the state through eminent domain.
At the moment she hears the news of the bombing on the radio, Jo knows nothing, but she also knows that something isn't right. The arrival of their friend and unofficial guardian, Sheriff Hawkins, confirms her suspicions. Samuel said he was going to find work. But soon it's clear that he's not gone, but missing--last seen by a security camera near the district courthouse at Elk Fork. And a nine-year-old girl, the daughter of a pastor of a storefront church, is in critical condition.
This isn't the first time Jo and Samuel have seen the ravages of violence visit their family. Last time, they lost their mother and Jo lost her ability to walk. Samuel took care of her, outfitted their barn with special rigging so she could keep riding their mule. But he was never the same, falling in with a separatist group, getting a tattoo he'd flaunt, then spending years hiding. She thought he had finished with all that. But now he's missing, and she can't talk to the one person she trusts.
A timely story of the anger and disaffection tearing apart many communities in this country, S.M. Hulse's Eden Mine is also a beautiful novel of the West, of a deep love for the land, of faith in the face of evil, and of the terrible choices we make for the ones we love.
259 pages, Hardcover
First published February 11, 2020
113 people are currently reading
4093 people want to read
About the author
S.M. Hulse
3 books190 followersS. M. Hulse received her M.F.A. from the University of Oregon and was a fiction fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her stories have appeared in Willow Springs, Witness, and Salamander. A horsewoman and fiddler, she has spent time in Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 214 reviews
February 8, 2020
Most of the story moves to a steady beat. Not fast-paced, just balanced. Moderate. But then the end just hits you, and the emotions pour.
The use of eminent domain has been enforced on their property, and Jo, a twenty-two year old paraplegic, narrates life in small town Eden, Montana after her older brother detonates a bomb in a nearby town that injures many in response to the land acquisition. Her brother, Samuel, was known for anti-government extremism, but now Jo is left to pick up the pieces since Samuel has gone into hiding.
"Samuel told me that after our mother's death, the women of Prospect supplied him with food for weeks. No one has brought me anything now; apparently there is no casserole that says "Sorry your brother's a terrorist.""
The description provided for this book might make it seem like it's centered around terrorism, extreme politics, and eminent domain; but, it's actually about how these actions affect the main character, Jo. Her narration brings these effects to light because of her brother. Throughout the story, the reader sees how Jo reacts to and questions her brothers poor choices. Her growth as a character is illuminated through her decisions the days following the bombing.
"...while I might not be my brother, and might not be responsible for what he has done, he is still my brother."
I enjoyed Pastor Asa's character. His struggle to find meaning in the bombing where his daughter was injured was tragic. Acumen involving religion and faith were tested through Asa's character.
"I wonder what part of him that is a pastor is at war with the part of him that is a father."
Some other things you might want to know: There are no chapters and no "Parts". There are only page breaks. While Jo is the narrator, occasionally Samuel will briefly interlude as if speaking to Jo; Samuel's thoughts are in italics. There are vivid descriptions of Montana, meaning at different parts in the story there are several paragraphs devoted to describing this setting. Because of those descriptions, if that's not your thing then it might get slow for you here and there. There is a considerable amount of dialogue centered around God and theology.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.
The use of eminent domain has been enforced on their property, and Jo, a twenty-two year old paraplegic, narrates life in small town Eden, Montana after her older brother detonates a bomb in a nearby town that injures many in response to the land acquisition. Her brother, Samuel, was known for anti-government extremism, but now Jo is left to pick up the pieces since Samuel has gone into hiding.
"Samuel told me that after our mother's death, the women of Prospect supplied him with food for weeks. No one has brought me anything now; apparently there is no casserole that says "Sorry your brother's a terrorist.""
The description provided for this book might make it seem like it's centered around terrorism, extreme politics, and eminent domain; but, it's actually about how these actions affect the main character, Jo. Her narration brings these effects to light because of her brother. Throughout the story, the reader sees how Jo reacts to and questions her brothers poor choices. Her growth as a character is illuminated through her decisions the days following the bombing.
"...while I might not be my brother, and might not be responsible for what he has done, he is still my brother."
I enjoyed Pastor Asa's character. His struggle to find meaning in the bombing where his daughter was injured was tragic. Acumen involving religion and faith were tested through Asa's character.
"I wonder what part of him that is a pastor is at war with the part of him that is a father."
Some other things you might want to know: There are no chapters and no "Parts". There are only page breaks. While Jo is the narrator, occasionally Samuel will briefly interlude as if speaking to Jo; Samuel's thoughts are in italics. There are vivid descriptions of Montana, meaning at different parts in the story there are several paragraphs devoted to describing this setting. Because of those descriptions, if that's not your thing then it might get slow for you here and there. There is a considerable amount of dialogue centered around God and theology.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.
February 23, 2020
A dying town in Montana, a town that was once a bustling place. That is before the mines closed. No and Sam's family had lived on their property for generations and planned to stay. That is, until the government seizes their property, using eminent domain for a planned highway. Jo and Sam had already had more than their share of tragedies, the last left Jo paralyzed from the waist down. Now an act of domestic terrorism will change what she holds most dear, an act that will have the pastor questioning his own faith.
a quiet book, but one with deep meaning. A tragedy but told in a gentle tone, using a formidable Jo, as narrator. As she questions, wonders, she paints, using elements of the land in her paintings. The preacher, against all odds becomes her confidant, and together they question faith and fate.
Us against them. Does one act, with unforseen consequences determine ones character? There is plenty of love here, in thought, action and deed. A book that would be excellent for book clubs, many points to debate. A melancholy tone, but one with some hope as well. A novel that definitely makes one think.
a quiet book, but one with deep meaning. A tragedy but told in a gentle tone, using a formidable Jo, as narrator. As she questions, wonders, she paints, using elements of the land in her paintings. The preacher, against all odds becomes her confidant, and together they question faith and fate.
Us against them. Does one act, with unforseen consequences determine ones character? There is plenty of love here, in thought, action and deed. A book that would be excellent for book clubs, many points to debate. A melancholy tone, but one with some hope as well. A novel that definitely makes one think.
March 28, 2020
Deputy-Sheriff Hawkins, was an old friend of the Faber siblings, Josephine, and her brother, Samuel.
Hawkins suspected Samuel was guilty of a bomb explosion. Jo let the Hawkins into the house.
As he walked upstairs to Samuel’s room, Jo wondered and worried.... what would the sheriff find?
“There was a Nazi flag on the wall, back when I was in high school. It was an identity Samuel tried on and almost immediately discarded, his racist phrase brief but committed. (He still disparagingly mentions the Jews’ now and then, and says things like ‘our kind’ and ‘those people’ more than I wish he did, but that’s nothing like the old tirades.) He burned the flag in a barrel in the yard a couple months after I spotted it, but the
swastika tattoo on his biceps wasn’t so easily disposed of; he wears long sleeves year-round now”.
Josephine Faber, a “woman in a wheelchair”, had a complete spinal cord injury... she had no feeling or movement below her waist.
We learn the background reason for Jo’s condition —devastating violence—which also killed the sibling’s mother.
Samuel, was helpful to Joe after the accident in many ways including setting up the barn on their property - equipped with the needed necessities so that Jo could still be independent and ride her mule.
At the moment Jo didn’t want to be a suspects sister. Who would?
Senior Resident Agent Will Devin was with the FBI.
He had flown up specialist from the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Salt Lake.
The specialist were down in Elk Fork, where an explosion device was detonated at the Elk Fork courthouse. A nine-year-old girl, the daughter of a pastor, was in critical condition
Devin told Jo that he planned to arrest Samuel.
Samuels faith in government had slowly eroded... growing darker through the years since his mother died. He had tried on half a dozen ideologies—but Jo (perhaps fooling only herself), thought he had abandoned them all.
Once I started this book- I never wanted to put it down.
It made me think of other past current tragedies across the globe.
What made this book so gripping was how real it felt.
As the layers of tragedy kept unfolding - we begin to see how deeply complex and all too human these broken characters were.
It’s a fast-pace ‘easy-to-read’ novel - but much harder to digest the smorgasbord combined points of views.
Good and evil are explored - as well as humanity - identity - choices - consequences ....all in the context of love!
Powerful as holy ‘S#%T!
**Thank you Bruce for recommending this book to me. Geeezzzzzz - you’re right: not a book to miss reading.
And ... to any friends I owe messages to, or phone calls... please forgive me. My head was in this book all day.
I’ll return messages this weekend.
In the meantime ... I’ll say it again....
WISHING EVERYONE HEALTHY- and SAFE days- weeks - months - ahead!!!!
It’s a scary mess where we live with 50% of all patients ( at my hospital), with the coronavirus.
Hawkins suspected Samuel was guilty of a bomb explosion. Jo let the Hawkins into the house.
As he walked upstairs to Samuel’s room, Jo wondered and worried.... what would the sheriff find?
“There was a Nazi flag on the wall, back when I was in high school. It was an identity Samuel tried on and almost immediately discarded, his racist phrase brief but committed. (He still disparagingly mentions the Jews’ now and then, and says things like ‘our kind’ and ‘those people’ more than I wish he did, but that’s nothing like the old tirades.) He burned the flag in a barrel in the yard a couple months after I spotted it, but the
swastika tattoo on his biceps wasn’t so easily disposed of; he wears long sleeves year-round now”.
Josephine Faber, a “woman in a wheelchair”, had a complete spinal cord injury... she had no feeling or movement below her waist.
We learn the background reason for Jo’s condition —devastating violence—which also killed the sibling’s mother.
Samuel, was helpful to Joe after the accident in many ways including setting up the barn on their property - equipped with the needed necessities so that Jo could still be independent and ride her mule.
At the moment Jo didn’t want to be a suspects sister. Who would?
Senior Resident Agent Will Devin was with the FBI.
He had flown up specialist from the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Salt Lake.
The specialist were down in Elk Fork, where an explosion device was detonated at the Elk Fork courthouse. A nine-year-old girl, the daughter of a pastor, was in critical condition
Devin told Jo that he planned to arrest Samuel.
Samuels faith in government had slowly eroded... growing darker through the years since his mother died. He had tried on half a dozen ideologies—but Jo (perhaps fooling only herself), thought he had abandoned them all.
Once I started this book- I never wanted to put it down.
It made me think of other past current tragedies across the globe.
What made this book so gripping was how real it felt.
As the layers of tragedy kept unfolding - we begin to see how deeply complex and all too human these broken characters were.
It’s a fast-pace ‘easy-to-read’ novel - but much harder to digest the smorgasbord combined points of views.
Good and evil are explored - as well as humanity - identity - choices - consequences ....all in the context of love!
Powerful as holy ‘S#%T!
**Thank you Bruce for recommending this book to me. Geeezzzzzz - you’re right: not a book to miss reading.
And ... to any friends I owe messages to, or phone calls... please forgive me. My head was in this book all day.
I’ll return messages this weekend.
In the meantime ... I’ll say it again....
WISHING EVERYONE HEALTHY- and SAFE days- weeks - months - ahead!!!!
It’s a scary mess where we live with 50% of all patients ( at my hospital), with the coronavirus.
August 27, 2024
What follows is a conversation I had with Paige, the local librarian, as I was returning this very novel, Eden Mine.
Paige: Well, Jesse, how was Miss Hulse's second novel, Eden Mine?
Jesse: Well it was definitely better than her debut novel, Black River. Which is saying a lot because Black River was great.
Paige: I know how you like your books sad and depressing, so did this live up to your standards?
Jesse: Oh Paige you know me so well. This was definitely a tear-jerker. While I think it could have been sadder, maybe not how I would have wrapped it up in the end, it was sad and mildly depressing.
Paige: You know Sarah grew up here in Spokane?
Jesse: I had heard that. She even mentioned our little corner of paradise (by paradise I mean anywhere outside the actual city of Spokane) in her debut novel Black River.
Paige: You think I should read this one?
Jesse: Well Miss Hulse is an amazing writer for someone just starting in her writing career she's absolutely wonderful to read and if the greats have taught us anything it's that writers get better with age. The story was mostly good, it felt a little cramped to me, like too many big ideas in one place, but at the same time that sense of overwhelmedness (is that a word) is what gave it a believability. And yeah it's sad but not in a cry your eyes out sort of way. The ending is not quite sad not quite happy. I think you'd enjoy it for sure Paige.
Paige: OK sounds good I'll add it to my to-be-read list on Goodreads.
Paige: Well, Jesse, how was Miss Hulse's second novel, Eden Mine?
Jesse: Well it was definitely better than her debut novel, Black River. Which is saying a lot because Black River was great.
Paige: I know how you like your books sad and depressing, so did this live up to your standards?
Jesse: Oh Paige you know me so well. This was definitely a tear-jerker. While I think it could have been sadder, maybe not how I would have wrapped it up in the end, it was sad and mildly depressing.
Paige: You know Sarah grew up here in Spokane?
Jesse: I had heard that. She even mentioned our little corner of paradise (by paradise I mean anywhere outside the actual city of Spokane) in her debut novel Black River.
Paige: You think I should read this one?
Jesse: Well Miss Hulse is an amazing writer for someone just starting in her writing career she's absolutely wonderful to read and if the greats have taught us anything it's that writers get better with age. The story was mostly good, it felt a little cramped to me, like too many big ideas in one place, but at the same time that sense of overwhelmedness (is that a word) is what gave it a believability. And yeah it's sad but not in a cry your eyes out sort of way. The ending is not quite sad not quite happy. I think you'd enjoy it for sure Paige.
Paige: OK sounds good I'll add it to my to-be-read list on Goodreads.
February 2, 2020
The outcome of an act of domestic terrorism has unintended consequences on several fronts. A sister is left to contemplate the motivation for her brother’s action beyond the upcoming loss of their childhood home which they will lose due to governmental acquisition. She explores the loss of her own personal Eden, their parents, and her brother’s violence through her art. The Eden Mine, itself, is a place of death and the cause of pollution mirrored in a pastor’s test of faith. Ultimately, this novel slowly simmers with intense emotions about place, protectiveness, guilt, and familial responsibly.
February 20, 2020
3.5 rounded up
I will absolutely be looking for the next book by S.M. Hulse as I enjoyed this one very much. This and many other books similar to this are stories that need to be told. One of the main themes is how small town/rural America is suffering and so are the people that are living there that have chosen to stay. Jo and Samuel Faber have grown up in very difficult circumstances, but they have always had each other to help get by. When they are forced to give up their home, it seems something within Samuel ignites.
While I might have been more riveted by having the story told from Samuel's perspective (more than it was), I think there is definitely something to be said about the quiet and guarded way we watched this all unfold from Jo. She is a remarkable character in that it takes this horrific event for her to realize the strength she has inside to manage and figure out what now? I think no matter your age or socioeconomic background, we can all relate to, 'what now?'. There always comes a time in our life where we stand at the fork in the road and decide either deliberately or impulsively, which direction we should go. I don't know if I would have handled the situation with as much grace as Jo did, but I'd like to hope so.
This is another book that helped me mature as a reader. It is more of a contemplative read and would work well in a book club or situation where it could be discussed because there is a lot here to digest.
Many thanks to Edelweiss, Farrar, Straus and Giroux and S.M. Hulse for the opportunity to read this and provide an honest review.
Review Date: 02/20/2020
Publication Date: 02/11/2020
I will absolutely be looking for the next book by S.M. Hulse as I enjoyed this one very much. This and many other books similar to this are stories that need to be told. One of the main themes is how small town/rural America is suffering and so are the people that are living there that have chosen to stay. Jo and Samuel Faber have grown up in very difficult circumstances, but they have always had each other to help get by. When they are forced to give up their home, it seems something within Samuel ignites.
While I might have been more riveted by having the story told from Samuel's perspective (more than it was), I think there is definitely something to be said about the quiet and guarded way we watched this all unfold from Jo. She is a remarkable character in that it takes this horrific event for her to realize the strength she has inside to manage and figure out what now? I think no matter your age or socioeconomic background, we can all relate to, 'what now?'. There always comes a time in our life where we stand at the fork in the road and decide either deliberately or impulsively, which direction we should go. I don't know if I would have handled the situation with as much grace as Jo did, but I'd like to hope so.
This is another book that helped me mature as a reader. It is more of a contemplative read and would work well in a book club or situation where it could be discussed because there is a lot here to digest.
Many thanks to Edelweiss, Farrar, Straus and Giroux and S.M. Hulse for the opportunity to read this and provide an honest review.
Review Date: 02/20/2020
Publication Date: 02/11/2020
January 4, 2020
I was a big fan of S. M. Hulse's debut novel Black River and have been eagerly awaiting Eden Mine. Hulse has a magic pen that creates a vivid sense of place and complex, conflicted characters embroiled in devastating moral choices.
However damaged it might be, however poisoned, however marred, it's not just our home; it's what remains of our family. ~from Eden Mine by S. M. Hulse
Tall Montana mountains on the east side casts their shadows on the valley until near noon. The silver mines left their legacy of polluted water and broken families. Jo and Samuel Faber's grandfather worked the mines for thirty years to afford a plot of land at retirement. Their father died in a mine collapse.
Eden on one side, Gethsemane on the other, the mountains define Jo's world, a paradise she loves, haunted by ghastly memories of her mother's brutal murder. Her brother Samuel had hoped to leave this dying town. Instead, he became Jo's protector, her guardian. For when the disgruntled lover murdered their mother, a bullet also struck Jo.
The orphaned siblings lost too much, including their faith, but they had each other. Samuel, Jo knew, would always protect her. Jo enjoyed "casting the world in its best light" in her paintings that she sold at the gas station gift shop, and she also saw her brother in his best light, ignoring his darker attractions and anger.
The first sentence in the novel sets the conflict: "My brother's bomb explodes at 10:16 on a late April Sunday morning." Unable to fight the takeover of their family land through eminent domain, Samuel acts out. He never planned for anyone to be hurt--that's why he bombed the courthouse on a Sunday morning.
Samuel did not know that a church met in a storefront across the street. People were hurt, including the pastor's daughter.
Sheriff Hawkins comes to Jo. He has protected the siblings since their mother's death. He knows Jo could help the law find her brother. He knows the truth of that awful day when their mother's murderer was beaten to death.
Alone to face the looming deadline to vacate their family home, besieged by law and paparazzi, Jo finds aid from an unexpected person: Pastor Asa whose daughter lays in the hospital, a victim of Samuel's bomb. He is adrift spiritually, his faith unable to explain or cure what has happened.
Samuel agonizes over how he came to come to this point. His biggest choice is yet to come. Can he change?
Jo loves her brother. How long can she remain silent about what she knows?
Pastor Asa rails at his impotence to heal what is broken, the wife who died young, his comatose daughter. He is in the desert, hoping to find the still waters of faith again.
Hulse has again offered a novel that satisfies on so many levels: the propulsive plot, characters who are sympathetic and conflicted and real, a landscape painted in detailed richness, and the universal and timeless theme of being lost and seeking forgiveness and faith.
I was given a free book by the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
However damaged it might be, however poisoned, however marred, it's not just our home; it's what remains of our family. ~from Eden Mine by S. M. Hulse
Tall Montana mountains on the east side casts their shadows on the valley until near noon. The silver mines left their legacy of polluted water and broken families. Jo and Samuel Faber's grandfather worked the mines for thirty years to afford a plot of land at retirement. Their father died in a mine collapse.
Eden on one side, Gethsemane on the other, the mountains define Jo's world, a paradise she loves, haunted by ghastly memories of her mother's brutal murder. Her brother Samuel had hoped to leave this dying town. Instead, he became Jo's protector, her guardian. For when the disgruntled lover murdered their mother, a bullet also struck Jo.
The orphaned siblings lost too much, including their faith, but they had each other. Samuel, Jo knew, would always protect her. Jo enjoyed "casting the world in its best light" in her paintings that she sold at the gas station gift shop, and she also saw her brother in his best light, ignoring his darker attractions and anger.
The first sentence in the novel sets the conflict: "My brother's bomb explodes at 10:16 on a late April Sunday morning." Unable to fight the takeover of their family land through eminent domain, Samuel acts out. He never planned for anyone to be hurt--that's why he bombed the courthouse on a Sunday morning.
Samuel did not know that a church met in a storefront across the street. People were hurt, including the pastor's daughter.
Sheriff Hawkins comes to Jo. He has protected the siblings since their mother's death. He knows Jo could help the law find her brother. He knows the truth of that awful day when their mother's murderer was beaten to death.
Alone to face the looming deadline to vacate their family home, besieged by law and paparazzi, Jo finds aid from an unexpected person: Pastor Asa whose daughter lays in the hospital, a victim of Samuel's bomb. He is adrift spiritually, his faith unable to explain or cure what has happened.
Samuel agonizes over how he came to come to this point. His biggest choice is yet to come. Can he change?
Jo loves her brother. How long can she remain silent about what she knows?
Pastor Asa rails at his impotence to heal what is broken, the wife who died young, his comatose daughter. He is in the desert, hoping to find the still waters of faith again.
Hulse has again offered a novel that satisfies on so many levels: the propulsive plot, characters who are sympathetic and conflicted and real, a landscape painted in detailed richness, and the universal and timeless theme of being lost and seeking forgiveness and faith.
I was given a free book by the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
March 12, 2020
I just finished another good book happy to report that. This was a very tough book for me to give a final rating to. I thought it was well written, good main character but a few hard to believe things she did not do, call a lawyer and also find a new place to live for starters lol. It is a very introspective book and moves at that pace. Since it so very introspective it moves at a pretty slow pace which it is allowed to do. The dialogue is ok. I thought the ending was good but maybe a little too predictable. In my final rating I could not give it a 4.0 rating and felt bad for that. I would give it around a 3.7. Good author , a different story but decent story worth reading. I say go out and give it a spin.
October 12, 2020
Review to follow................
October 14, 2020
Wow. I expected "good" but not as good as this. Before I go any further with this, let me say one thing that best captures my reaction to "Eden Mine." I borrowed the book to read and finished it last night. Tomorrow, I'm going to buy a copy. I want to be able to lend it to friends and re-read it, to talk about it and explore its many treasures. (I'll also be ordering Hulse's earlier novel, "Black River.")
"Eden Mine" is a rare marvel of a novel. The set-up: Josephine and her older brother, Samuel, have had a hard time of it. Their father died when the mine he worked in collapsed. Sometime later, her mother died when her ex-boyfriend ignored a restraining order and came to the house and shot her. During that attack, Jo (then a child) was hiding in a closet. A stray bullet came through the wall and severed her spine, leaving her a paraplegic. Samuel and Jo manage to get by in the aftermath of this horror, though Samuel finds himself drawn to extremist philosophies. He gets a swastika tattoo and talks frequently about how the Zionist Occupied Government is taking over everything. When word comes that the government is going to seize their house through eminent domain so that a new road might be created, Samuel decides he must act. One Sunday morning, in an act of defiance, he sets off a bomb at the town courthouse. No one was in the courthouse at the time, but the explosion sent glass and debris through the window of a store front church across the street, severely injuring worshipers -- most severely of all, the young daughter of the minister.
All this happens on the first two pages. The book itself shows the aftermath: how Jo tries to make sense of what has happened, how it was possible that the loving brother (despite the tattoo) she thought she knew could do such a thing. And the media circus that follows, the FBI investigation. The complicated relationship that Jo forms with the minister as his daughter lies, intubated and unresponsive, in a hospital bed. And the letter her brother writes to Jo while he hides from the law -- written in sinuous, meandering lines on a map of the northern Rockies, in language that catches the reader by surprise in how articulate and thoughtful it is.
"Eden Mine" draws the reader into some very difficult questions about guilt and innocence, family loyalty, how we respond to tragic circumstances and slow debilitating loss, whether it's possible to believe in God, what our choices lead to, and so very much much more. The story draws the reader deeper and deeper into these questions in all their complexity, offering no easy answers. (I truly wish I could give examples from the book, but I really don't want to deprive the reader of the experience of watching questions play out. It's not a matter of spoilers but of discovery.)
Hulse's use of symbolism -- two mines, both played out, one called Eden, the other Gethsemane, both gardens with powerful resonance; of painting techniques, especially chiaroscuro; so much to unpack! -- is inspired, and is matched by gorgeous language. At one point Jo muses: I watch the river now. It is dappled, low sunlight filtering through evergreens to the water's surface, lighting patches of the water and leaving others in darkness. The sunny spots look backlit, the light penetrating rather than reflecting, and I watch those spots, so much water passing through them, yet looking like it isn't moving at all. I wonder if this water comes from the mountains. If it originated near my brother, has sustained him these last weeks. Imagery like this captures the visual moment, but it is tied closely to the themes of the book. Jo is a painter, but she has limited herself to paintings that tourists might buy as they pass through town, paintings that depict idealized mountains and bright, warm colors, knowing all the while that the vision isn't real. But reality is always there, always difficult and filled with as much darkness as there is light. In an especially powerful moment, she finds herself wrestling with the urge to fall into the easy comfort of false images. She feels the urge to paint a portrait of the minister's comatose daughter with "pink cheeks" and "sunny yellows and oranges," but resists: So tempting to paint only the brightest vision of things. To hide damage and decay beneath thick layers of vivid pigment, to depict life as it might be in a dream. It's the closest I can come to magic, to healing, and it isn't nearly enough.
What struck me most powerfully about the book is its extraordinary intelligence and honesty. There are no easy answers, no easily anticipated reactions. Josephine is a smart, self-aware, capable young woman. Her reaction to her brother's act is filled with conflicted thoughts and feelings, doubts and anxiety, anger. I found myself being surprised time and again how real her reactions were, how unexpectedly complicated. Samuel too escapes easy analysis. We see early and often how deeply he loves his sister, how he takes care of her and helps her live a life that is not defined by the wheelchair she needs to get around. What surprises, though, is his unexpected intelligence and tenderness, the depth of his feelings, how sympathetic the reader finds him/herself being toward him.
As some of my GR friends know, I work part-time in a bookstore (it's my "retirement"). I'm going to recommend "Eden Mine" to every literary, book group reader I encounter. I'll begin with anyone reading my inadequate review here.
"Eden Mine" is a rare marvel of a novel. The set-up: Josephine and her older brother, Samuel, have had a hard time of it. Their father died when the mine he worked in collapsed. Sometime later, her mother died when her ex-boyfriend ignored a restraining order and came to the house and shot her. During that attack, Jo (then a child) was hiding in a closet. A stray bullet came through the wall and severed her spine, leaving her a paraplegic. Samuel and Jo manage to get by in the aftermath of this horror, though Samuel finds himself drawn to extremist philosophies. He gets a swastika tattoo and talks frequently about how the Zionist Occupied Government is taking over everything. When word comes that the government is going to seize their house through eminent domain so that a new road might be created, Samuel decides he must act. One Sunday morning, in an act of defiance, he sets off a bomb at the town courthouse. No one was in the courthouse at the time, but the explosion sent glass and debris through the window of a store front church across the street, severely injuring worshipers -- most severely of all, the young daughter of the minister.
All this happens on the first two pages. The book itself shows the aftermath: how Jo tries to make sense of what has happened, how it was possible that the loving brother (despite the tattoo) she thought she knew could do such a thing. And the media circus that follows, the FBI investigation. The complicated relationship that Jo forms with the minister as his daughter lies, intubated and unresponsive, in a hospital bed. And the letter her brother writes to Jo while he hides from the law -- written in sinuous, meandering lines on a map of the northern Rockies, in language that catches the reader by surprise in how articulate and thoughtful it is.
"Eden Mine" draws the reader into some very difficult questions about guilt and innocence, family loyalty, how we respond to tragic circumstances and slow debilitating loss, whether it's possible to believe in God, what our choices lead to, and so very much much more. The story draws the reader deeper and deeper into these questions in all their complexity, offering no easy answers. (I truly wish I could give examples from the book, but I really don't want to deprive the reader of the experience of watching questions play out. It's not a matter of spoilers but of discovery.)
Hulse's use of symbolism -- two mines, both played out, one called Eden, the other Gethsemane, both gardens with powerful resonance; of painting techniques, especially chiaroscuro; so much to unpack! -- is inspired, and is matched by gorgeous language. At one point Jo muses: I watch the river now. It is dappled, low sunlight filtering through evergreens to the water's surface, lighting patches of the water and leaving others in darkness. The sunny spots look backlit, the light penetrating rather than reflecting, and I watch those spots, so much water passing through them, yet looking like it isn't moving at all. I wonder if this water comes from the mountains. If it originated near my brother, has sustained him these last weeks. Imagery like this captures the visual moment, but it is tied closely to the themes of the book. Jo is a painter, but she has limited herself to paintings that tourists might buy as they pass through town, paintings that depict idealized mountains and bright, warm colors, knowing all the while that the vision isn't real. But reality is always there, always difficult and filled with as much darkness as there is light. In an especially powerful moment, she finds herself wrestling with the urge to fall into the easy comfort of false images. She feels the urge to paint a portrait of the minister's comatose daughter with "pink cheeks" and "sunny yellows and oranges," but resists: So tempting to paint only the brightest vision of things. To hide damage and decay beneath thick layers of vivid pigment, to depict life as it might be in a dream. It's the closest I can come to magic, to healing, and it isn't nearly enough.
What struck me most powerfully about the book is its extraordinary intelligence and honesty. There are no easy answers, no easily anticipated reactions. Josephine is a smart, self-aware, capable young woman. Her reaction to her brother's act is filled with conflicted thoughts and feelings, doubts and anxiety, anger. I found myself being surprised time and again how real her reactions were, how unexpectedly complicated. Samuel too escapes easy analysis. We see early and often how deeply he loves his sister, how he takes care of her and helps her live a life that is not defined by the wheelchair she needs to get around. What surprises, though, is his unexpected intelligence and tenderness, the depth of his feelings, how sympathetic the reader finds him/herself being toward him.
As some of my GR friends know, I work part-time in a bookstore (it's my "retirement"). I'm going to recommend "Eden Mine" to every literary, book group reader I encounter. I'll begin with anyone reading my inadequate review here.
January 4, 2020
Eden Mine is a fine title which can be interpreted in multiple ways. The Faber family has owned the same acreage in Idaho, near enough to the border that their barn and house are the last structures one sees on their way north to Canada. And the remaining Fabers, Samuel and his sister Jo, are being forced to leave because of a proposed road. All their history is bound up in this, their personal eden, which is downstream from the Eden Mine, in which their father lost his life and which has polluted that stream. When we first meet Jo, she is packing up boxes for the impending move, believing Samuel is on his way to Wyoming in search of work. Told mostly from her point of view, we learn of Samuel's actions, her inner life drives the greatest parts of this story. This is a contemplative novel, not a page turner except in rare instances, in which the importance and nature of faith and relationships are tested. Much of the drama, whether in the past or present, happens offstage.
Jo is an amazing character. Although wheelchair bound, she is self-sufficient, intelligent, loyal, and has a remarkable original talent for painting. She is one of those characters you meet in a book that you wish you could meet in real life.
Jo is an amazing character. Although wheelchair bound, she is self-sufficient, intelligent, loyal, and has a remarkable original talent for painting. She is one of those characters you meet in a book that you wish you could meet in real life.
December 27, 2019
There are no easy answers in Eden Mine; rather, it’s a book about the questions that arise in each of us once an indefensible and inexplicable event takes place.
Who deserves greater loyalty: a terribly flawed older brother who has always protected you or government agents who rightfully are determined to bring him to justice? Is there a God and if so, where is he during the worst of times—and if not, how do you make sense of those times? How does the past impact the decisions we make in the present?
To say that Samuel is an unlikeable character is putting it mildly. He is a virulent anti-government racist whose views have been defined by tragedies: a mine collapse that claimed the life of his father, domestic violence that killed his mother and crippled his sister, and now eminent domain, which allows the government to seize his house for a “greater good.” Early on, Samuel bombs a Montana district courthouse and now a young girl – the daughter of the preacher’s—life hangs in balance.
The focus of the book is on his sister Jo, a complicated young woman who is paralyzed from the waist down but very self-sufficient. She is a talented painter and a horse-rider, and she owes her recovery to Samuel, who tenderly watched over her. She hates her brother’s deed but love her brother, damaged though he is. What complicates the scenario is a growing friendship with Asa Truth, the preacher who is experiencing any parent’s worst nightmare, and her desire to ease his pain. She is not her brother, but has she become her brother’s keeper?
In this latest novel, S.M. Hulse revs up her game by delving deeper into some of the themes she set up in her wonderful debut novel, Black River. Those themes include the elusiveness of understanding God’s ways, the exploration of justice and redemption and the complexity of human relationships in a Montana setting. This is a thoughtful book that never veers towards plotting simplicity. I am grateful to Farrar, Straus and Gilroux, #FSGBooks for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars.
Who deserves greater loyalty: a terribly flawed older brother who has always protected you or government agents who rightfully are determined to bring him to justice? Is there a God and if so, where is he during the worst of times—and if not, how do you make sense of those times? How does the past impact the decisions we make in the present?
To say that Samuel is an unlikeable character is putting it mildly. He is a virulent anti-government racist whose views have been defined by tragedies: a mine collapse that claimed the life of his father, domestic violence that killed his mother and crippled his sister, and now eminent domain, which allows the government to seize his house for a “greater good.” Early on, Samuel bombs a Montana district courthouse and now a young girl – the daughter of the preacher’s—life hangs in balance.
The focus of the book is on his sister Jo, a complicated young woman who is paralyzed from the waist down but very self-sufficient. She is a talented painter and a horse-rider, and she owes her recovery to Samuel, who tenderly watched over her. She hates her brother’s deed but love her brother, damaged though he is. What complicates the scenario is a growing friendship with Asa Truth, the preacher who is experiencing any parent’s worst nightmare, and her desire to ease his pain. She is not her brother, but has she become her brother’s keeper?
In this latest novel, S.M. Hulse revs up her game by delving deeper into some of the themes she set up in her wonderful debut novel, Black River. Those themes include the elusiveness of understanding God’s ways, the exploration of justice and redemption and the complexity of human relationships in a Montana setting. This is a thoughtful book that never veers towards plotting simplicity. I am grateful to Farrar, Straus and Gilroux, #FSGBooks for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars.
January 23, 2020
This wonderful novel explores the often complex workings of the human mind. It delves into feelings of spirituality, rage, alienation, community, and connection with the land. It explores friendship, disability, acts of violence, and how God and art can sometimes help us rise above the torrents of tragedy.
Jo and her brother Samuel live on an almost barren piece of land in Montana that has been in their family for three generations. The view from the window is Eden Mine where their father lost his life in a mine collapse. Their mother is dead and Samuel, six years older than Jo, cares for his disabled sister tenderly and conscientiously. Samuel is distraught because the government is taking their home and land via eminent domain in order to make room for a thorofare.
Jo is a talented artist who primarily paints idealized landscapes of her land. She does not think much of herself as an artist. Most of the art she sells is to tourists who come into the small stop and go where she works. However, she is talented, motivated and self-aware. Jo is dependent on a wheelchair after she lost the use of her legs in an accident. The particulars of this accident are slowly revealed as the novel progresses.
The novel opens with the bombing of the local courthouse. A camera has taken a somewhat unclear photo of the perpetrator and it looks a lot like Samuel. It is even more telling that Samuel disappears right after the bombing. The bombing has severely damaged the courthouse but the real tragedy is the serious injury it caused a nine year old girl who was at services in the church across the street.
The ideas of spirituality and alienation, misanthropy and connection to others were the most riveting aspects of the novel for me. It is no accident that the mine was named Eden and that Samuel was a prophet in the bible. As I read the first part of the book I frequently thought of the 23rd psalm, especially the part that goes "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for though are with me". I'd ask myself what life is like when God is not with you, when you live in fear of evil, all alone. Despite the barrenness of her land, it is Jo's Eden. It is her Eden despite the polluted creek and the fact that the mountain took her father. There is no other place she wants to be, ever. Samuel sees the government as evil, talks hatefully, and has been troubled and angry for a long time, something Jo realizes but does not want to confront. As Jo states, Samuel was "searching for meaning in dangerous places".
The novel unfolds around the aftermath of the bombing, its impact on Jo and others in the town. Questions are inferred. Was the bombing an act of evil or one of desperation? Free will is God's gift but would a kind and loving God give us a gift that destroys and maims? At one point in the book there is a line that says the earth gives and the earth takes. Jo decides to incorporate actual dirt from her land into her art. "You think of all that's happened in this place and you realize maybe blood and earth aren't so different."
Thank you to FSG for an ARC of this novel.
Jo and her brother Samuel live on an almost barren piece of land in Montana that has been in their family for three generations. The view from the window is Eden Mine where their father lost his life in a mine collapse. Their mother is dead and Samuel, six years older than Jo, cares for his disabled sister tenderly and conscientiously. Samuel is distraught because the government is taking their home and land via eminent domain in order to make room for a thorofare.
Jo is a talented artist who primarily paints idealized landscapes of her land. She does not think much of herself as an artist. Most of the art she sells is to tourists who come into the small stop and go where she works. However, she is talented, motivated and self-aware. Jo is dependent on a wheelchair after she lost the use of her legs in an accident. The particulars of this accident are slowly revealed as the novel progresses.
The novel opens with the bombing of the local courthouse. A camera has taken a somewhat unclear photo of the perpetrator and it looks a lot like Samuel. It is even more telling that Samuel disappears right after the bombing. The bombing has severely damaged the courthouse but the real tragedy is the serious injury it caused a nine year old girl who was at services in the church across the street.
The ideas of spirituality and alienation, misanthropy and connection to others were the most riveting aspects of the novel for me. It is no accident that the mine was named Eden and that Samuel was a prophet in the bible. As I read the first part of the book I frequently thought of the 23rd psalm, especially the part that goes "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for though are with me". I'd ask myself what life is like when God is not with you, when you live in fear of evil, all alone. Despite the barrenness of her land, it is Jo's Eden. It is her Eden despite the polluted creek and the fact that the mountain took her father. There is no other place she wants to be, ever. Samuel sees the government as evil, talks hatefully, and has been troubled and angry for a long time, something Jo realizes but does not want to confront. As Jo states, Samuel was "searching for meaning in dangerous places".
The novel unfolds around the aftermath of the bombing, its impact on Jo and others in the town. Questions are inferred. Was the bombing an act of evil or one of desperation? Free will is God's gift but would a kind and loving God give us a gift that destroys and maims? At one point in the book there is a line that says the earth gives and the earth takes. Jo decides to incorporate actual dirt from her land into her art. "You think of all that's happened in this place and you realize maybe blood and earth aren't so different."
Thank you to FSG for an ARC of this novel.
November 7, 2019
This one starts at a breakneck pace with Samuel bombing a courthouse trying to make a statement about government oversteps (many are relevant to plot points so I will be vague), and now he is on the run.
His sister Jo is the primary point of view (Samuel, and Asa are there others). She is left behind trying to make sense of how her brother went down the dark road he is on. Asa is the third point of view, a pastor at a nearby church, and father of a young gi that was injured in the bombing. This book deals a lot with faith, retaliation, redemption, and trying to heal brokenness.
Overall this was probably between 3-4 but I rounded up. Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this arc available through netgalley.
His sister Jo is the primary point of view (Samuel, and Asa are there others). She is left behind trying to make sense of how her brother went down the dark road he is on. Asa is the third point of view, a pastor at a nearby church, and father of a young gi that was injured in the bombing. This book deals a lot with faith, retaliation, redemption, and trying to heal brokenness.
Overall this was probably between 3-4 but I rounded up. Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this arc available through netgalley.
May 19, 2020
I don't even know where to start. Reading this was like finding a precious jewel in the bottom of a haystack. I hadn't even heard about this book until a book friend that I respect, introduced it to me. I will be forever grateful. I was transfixed by this quiet contemplative work that addresses so many issues. While finding myself simultaneously savoring and devouring this book, it made me think of the biblical Garden of Eden and how biting the apple thrust the characters into a crisis of faith and the spiritual death coming from banishment of the ideal world. The ties to the physical environment were so profoundly drawn, arresting and immersive. Indeed,I also found the inner dialogue and thoughts of the characters vivid and pensive.There are so many issues raised that capture the reader's attention regarding guilt vs innocence, questioning of faith, painting as a creative modality to express one' s emotions, sibling relationships, choices in life etc. I could write about the story but you can find that in the blurb. It's a book that is absolutely perfect for bookclubs.. Just know that this is a novel you won't regret reading.
December 20, 2019
I rarely write reviews, choosing to use goodreads simply to keep a record of my reading. I didn't expect this book would be any different when it came in my Powell's Indiespensible box.
But oh, I was wrong. The story was so compelling. In terrorist situations, we often think of the victims or of the evil of the perpetrator. We rarely take time to delve into the aftermath for the family of the perpetrator and how they interact with the families of the victims, particularly when the attack takes place in a small town where those groups are bound to come into contact with one another.
I loved the struggle that Jo, the paraplegic sister of the bomber, faced as she tried simultaneously to understand how her brother could do such a thing while also trying *not* to see the things that could change how we view the people we love.
I excpect this to become a book I revisit several times over the years.
But oh, I was wrong. The story was so compelling. In terrorist situations, we often think of the victims or of the evil of the perpetrator. We rarely take time to delve into the aftermath for the family of the perpetrator and how they interact with the families of the victims, particularly when the attack takes place in a small town where those groups are bound to come into contact with one another.
I loved the struggle that Jo, the paraplegic sister of the bomber, faced as she tried simultaneously to understand how her brother could do such a thing while also trying *not* to see the things that could change how we view the people we love.
I excpect this to become a book I revisit several times over the years.
December 22, 2019
Lots of Big Themes--terrorism and economic dispossession and the West and faith and family and theodicy--woven together a bit ham-fistedly. There's a character named "Asa Truth"; Hulse uses a semi-epistolary structure that is sufficiently tortured that she feels the need to insert a meta-comment that her ne'er-do-well outcast writes awfully eloquent letters; the main character is a painter and there's an elaborate metaphor involving her deciding to use mud as a medium; someone later asks if she used blood, and when she says "no, earth" he says something along the lines of "the longer I live the more I think there's not much difference between the two." That sort of thing.
February 5, 2020
Eden Mine by S. M. Hulse is a very highly recommended novel that examines the aftershocks of an act of domestic terrorism in a small Montana town. This eloquently written, artistic novel is one of the best novels I've read so far this year.
It is a Sunday morning and Josephine (Jo) Faber is packing up the home that she and her brother Samuel inherited near Eden Mine in Montana. Their home has been seized by the state through eminent domain. While packing she learns about the bombing of the district courthouse at Elk Fork on the radio, but it is not until friend and unofficial guardian Sheriff Hawkins shows up at her front door that she realizes something is wrong. Hawkins wants to know where her brother, Samuel, is. As far as she knows, he left that morning to go find work.
When Jo is told that Samuel was caught on a security camera near the court house, she knows he is likely responsible. The tragedy is that a church was meeting in a nearby store front and the bomb blast blew out the window. Now a nine-year-old girl, the daughter of the pastor, is in critical condition. Jo knows that Samuel would never have meant for anyone to be placed in harm's way because of their family history. He has been taking care of Jo since he was 17 and she was 10.
Eden Mine is a finely crafted, nuanced, and beautifully written heart-breaking novel about family bonds, loyalty, love, individual freedom, injustice, the testing of faith, and redemption. It also touches on the anger, injustice, and disaffection tearing apart many communities. The novel is told mainly through Jo's point-of-view, with short chapters from Asa Truth, the pastor whose daughter is hospitalized, and Samuel, who is in hiding and writing to Jo on a map he has with him. The complete backstory slowly unfolds over the course of the novel, making what happened more nuanced and complicated that it would appear to be at first.
All of the characters are well-developed, complicated individuals. Hulse captures these damaged people and their thoughts, feelings, and struggles with an acumen and sensitivity that makes the story richer. The inner thoughts of the characters will resonate with readers. Some of the questions that Eden Mine raises are those that are struggled with almost universally. A case could be made that the novel is allegorical and reflects human struggles Biblically. In the end this is an eloquently written, touching novel that will stay with me for years.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2020/0...
It is a Sunday morning and Josephine (Jo) Faber is packing up the home that she and her brother Samuel inherited near Eden Mine in Montana. Their home has been seized by the state through eminent domain. While packing she learns about the bombing of the district courthouse at Elk Fork on the radio, but it is not until friend and unofficial guardian Sheriff Hawkins shows up at her front door that she realizes something is wrong. Hawkins wants to know where her brother, Samuel, is. As far as she knows, he left that morning to go find work.
When Jo is told that Samuel was caught on a security camera near the court house, she knows he is likely responsible. The tragedy is that a church was meeting in a nearby store front and the bomb blast blew out the window. Now a nine-year-old girl, the daughter of the pastor, is in critical condition. Jo knows that Samuel would never have meant for anyone to be placed in harm's way because of their family history. He has been taking care of Jo since he was 17 and she was 10.
Eden Mine is a finely crafted, nuanced, and beautifully written heart-breaking novel about family bonds, loyalty, love, individual freedom, injustice, the testing of faith, and redemption. It also touches on the anger, injustice, and disaffection tearing apart many communities. The novel is told mainly through Jo's point-of-view, with short chapters from Asa Truth, the pastor whose daughter is hospitalized, and Samuel, who is in hiding and writing to Jo on a map he has with him. The complete backstory slowly unfolds over the course of the novel, making what happened more nuanced and complicated that it would appear to be at first.
All of the characters are well-developed, complicated individuals. Hulse captures these damaged people and their thoughts, feelings, and struggles with an acumen and sensitivity that makes the story richer. The inner thoughts of the characters will resonate with readers. Some of the questions that Eden Mine raises are those that are struggled with almost universally. A case could be made that the novel is allegorical and reflects human struggles Biblically. In the end this is an eloquently written, touching novel that will stay with me for years.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2020/0...
February 23, 2020
What happens when you love the person but not his actions? This is the dilemma facing Jo, in this compelling and moving novel, when her brother blows up a local courthouse in a small Montana town as some sort of misguided protest against what he sees as government control. The aftermath of the bombing and its far-reaching consequences is explored in an intelligent, insightful and non-judgemental way and it makes for some riveting reading. From page one the reader is drawn into the narrative and the tension never lets up. Beautifully written, with not a wasted word, with complex and convincing characterisation, I found this book an immersive experience and its examination of family, friendship, loyalty and betrayal thought-provoking and heart-breaking. A small community already touched in so many ways by tragedy, this latest act somehow has to be absorbed. There’s no black and white here, no melodrama, just a portrait of people doing their best to deal with devastating loss. A timely and relevant book.
July 22, 2021
Eden Mine by S.M. Hulse transports the reader to small town Montana where we meet Jo Faber, a parapalegic who is packing up the home that she and her brother Samuel have lost to seizure by the state. When family friend Sheriff Hawkes shows up following a bombing in a nearby town, Jo discovers that Samuel, who has been linked to extremist groups in the past, has gone missing, and she alone must deal with the fallout without the one person she has always trusted.
This is a story that relies heavily on the descriptive detailing of life in the West and a deep connection to the land, and the issues that arise from the collective daily suffering across small town America. There is much food for thought contained in these pages.
Thank you to Goodreads and author S.M. Hulse for providing me with a giveaway copy.
This is a story that relies heavily on the descriptive detailing of life in the West and a deep connection to the land, and the issues that arise from the collective daily suffering across small town America. There is much food for thought contained in these pages.
Thank you to Goodreads and author S.M. Hulse for providing me with a giveaway copy.
October 24, 2020
I saw that a friend rated this book highly here on Goodreads and decided to check it out. And I'm so glad I did! Definitely one of the better books I've read this year, and one I'll revisit. I appreciated the authenticity and complexity of the characters as each struggled in the aftermath of grief, loss and trauma (both past and present) and while the ending wasn't really the "happy-ever-after" type and didn't answer every question I had about the characters, it was totally appropriate to the story.
June 4, 2023
I really enjoyed Hulse's style. She kept me intrigued with the characters right through to the end. I could picture the landscape and appreciate the plot.
Thanks Whitney and Davey, good read!
Thanks Whitney and Davey, good read!
January 7, 2020
4.75/5
This was a very slow burn novel that was fantastically atmospheric. All the characters were wonderfully nuanced; all of them were lost in their own way and trying to make sense of the world throughout the story. There were many pages where we just sat with protagonist while she painted and evolved in her craft. This is not usually something I would enjoy reading about, but the author did a wonderful job in making these moments both layered and meaningful.
This was a very slow burn novel that was fantastically atmospheric. All the characters were wonderfully nuanced; all of them were lost in their own way and trying to make sense of the world throughout the story. There were many pages where we just sat with protagonist while she painted and evolved in her craft. This is not usually something I would enjoy reading about, but the author did a wonderful job in making these moments both layered and meaningful.
March 10, 2020
Amazingly well written. The language and dialogue were phenomenal. I couldn't put this down. This novel grabs your attention from the start. Eden Mine tells the story of a dying town, a family torn apart by violence, and the mental toll it takes on survivors. In the aftermath of a bombing, a sister has to comes to terms with her brother and herself. Her brother has to live with the decisions he has made and the animosity he feels towards others while reconciling the love he has for his sister. A father deals with the loss of his daughter and a small town sheriffs realizes he can't control much of anything.
While this basically describes any small town, set against the backdrop of the mountains out west and the descriptions the author adds for this small mining town, I really cant imagine it anywhere else. Superbly written and definitely a must read. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.
While this basically describes any small town, set against the backdrop of the mountains out west and the descriptions the author adds for this small mining town, I really cant imagine it anywhere else. Superbly written and definitely a must read. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.
October 24, 2019
A heartbreaking look at the ramifications of domestic terrorism - told from the points of view of the terrorist, his sister, and the father of one of the victims. Set in the small dying Montana town of Eden Mine, Jo Faber wakes to the news that her brother Samuel is wanted for bombing a local court house and must come to terms with the social, emotional, and political ramifications, all while dealing with the loss of her home and the distrust of her community. With vivid world building, timely social commentary, and sympathetic characters, Eden Mine is a haunting novel that will stick with the reader long after they've finished the novel!
A special thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
A special thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
July 10, 2025
4.5 - Hulse has done it again - she’s totally gotten me immersed in her words and wondering how I move on to whatever I may pick up next. This was a unique story that clicked on many cylinders and had me questioning all kinds of things throughout, something I truly appreciate. I hope to see more from Hulse soon.
June 8, 2021
2.5 Beautiful writing, but not for me.
October 14, 2020
This book. This book is gripping. This book is provocative. This book is haunting. This book is intense. This book is genius.
Written by S.M. Hulse, this masterpiece novel takes place in the tiny mountain town of Prospect, Montana. The two mines that once offered employment and prosperity—Eden and Gethsemane—have long been shuttered, leaving a dying town in their wake. Josephine Faber and her older brother, Samuel, have lived together—just the two of them—for years. Their father was killed when the Gethsemane mine collapsed. Their mother was horrifically murdered in front of them by an ex-boyfriend, and when the carnage was over, Jo, who was still a little girl at the time, was shot in the spine and paralyzed from the waist down. But Samuel became her beloved guardian and protector. He was her everything--until the day he did the unthinkable: set off a bomb at a courthouse that gravely injured a little girl, the daughter of the pastor whose church across the street was inadvertently caught in the blast. Samuel thought he could get away with it, but a surveillance camera captures his image. The FBI hounds Jo for any information, while agents search for Samuel, who has seemingly disappeared. Or has he? Meanwhile, Jo befriends a most unlikely man, someone who slowly brings out the story of her past and her terrors of the present.
This is a multilayered psychological novel that is so intricately and tightly woven it will leave you reeling. Shrouded in extraordinary biblical symbolism, the story examines the meaning of faith, the importance of family, and the heartbreak that only those we love the most can cause.
Even though the plot is well-developed, the novel's strength is in the finely-wrought characters. The story slowly unfolds but in such a tantalizing way that it pulls in the reader bit by bit by bit. The writing is absolutely beautiful with stunning language and astonishing descriptions of seemingly minor details. Brilliant imagery of light and dark, earth and sky, and love and evil cement the novel as true literature.
This book is genius.
Written by S.M. Hulse, this masterpiece novel takes place in the tiny mountain town of Prospect, Montana. The two mines that once offered employment and prosperity—Eden and Gethsemane—have long been shuttered, leaving a dying town in their wake. Josephine Faber and her older brother, Samuel, have lived together—just the two of them—for years. Their father was killed when the Gethsemane mine collapsed. Their mother was horrifically murdered in front of them by an ex-boyfriend, and when the carnage was over, Jo, who was still a little girl at the time, was shot in the spine and paralyzed from the waist down. But Samuel became her beloved guardian and protector. He was her everything--until the day he did the unthinkable: set off a bomb at a courthouse that gravely injured a little girl, the daughter of the pastor whose church across the street was inadvertently caught in the blast. Samuel thought he could get away with it, but a surveillance camera captures his image. The FBI hounds Jo for any information, while agents search for Samuel, who has seemingly disappeared. Or has he? Meanwhile, Jo befriends a most unlikely man, someone who slowly brings out the story of her past and her terrors of the present.
This is a multilayered psychological novel that is so intricately and tightly woven it will leave you reeling. Shrouded in extraordinary biblical symbolism, the story examines the meaning of faith, the importance of family, and the heartbreak that only those we love the most can cause.
Even though the plot is well-developed, the novel's strength is in the finely-wrought characters. The story slowly unfolds but in such a tantalizing way that it pulls in the reader bit by bit by bit. The writing is absolutely beautiful with stunning language and astonishing descriptions of seemingly minor details. Brilliant imagery of light and dark, earth and sky, and love and evil cement the novel as true literature.
This book is genius.
September 4, 2020
The literature of the American west is not normally my thing, but this book came in one of the Powell's book boxes, and I subsequently noticed that it was receiving good reviews. I started it a few days ago and quickly fell into a rhythm with it. _Eden Mine_ focuses on an adult brother and sister, Samuel and Jo, who are about to lose their rural Montana home, which has been in the family for generations, because of construction of a new highway. They are parentless, having lost their father in a mine disaster and their mother in another tragic event that marred their childhood. In the opening of the book, Samuel sets off a series of events that are irreversible and unforgivable, and the rest of the novel follows Jo as she comes to terms with the consequences of Samuel's actions and the impending loss of the family home.
The traumas that the family has endured have the potentially to be detailed in an overly dramatic way, but Hulse manages to keep the temperature low when detailing them, and I frequently remarked on the restraint of the narrative and the steps that it refuses to take. Perhaps as a metaphor for this is Jo's painting career, which has mostly involved the production of vibrant, idealist, touristy paintings that are being sold at a local gas station, but now turns to actually using the soil near her family home in place of more traditional pigments, all while acknowledging the poisons of the soil that have been created by mining. The book even, at one point, acknowledges the indigenous people who once occupied that land via Jo's boss at the gas station, though the land's original stewards are only mentioned briefly--this part of the story could have been developed in interesting ways.
The painting element of the book--which allows Hulse to craft some beautiful prose--reminded me of the instructions that South African writer Olive Schreiner gives for writing about her home at the start of her 1883 novel, _The Story of An African Farm_: "he must squeeze the color from his brush, and dip it into the grey pigments around him. He must paint what lies before him."
If you're interested in American literature, issues of class and land ownership in Trump's America, or disability in literature, I think this book would be of interest to you!
The traumas that the family has endured have the potentially to be detailed in an overly dramatic way, but Hulse manages to keep the temperature low when detailing them, and I frequently remarked on the restraint of the narrative and the steps that it refuses to take. Perhaps as a metaphor for this is Jo's painting career, which has mostly involved the production of vibrant, idealist, touristy paintings that are being sold at a local gas station, but now turns to actually using the soil near her family home in place of more traditional pigments, all while acknowledging the poisons of the soil that have been created by mining. The book even, at one point, acknowledges the indigenous people who once occupied that land via Jo's boss at the gas station, though the land's original stewards are only mentioned briefly--this part of the story could have been developed in interesting ways.
The painting element of the book--which allows Hulse to craft some beautiful prose--reminded me of the instructions that South African writer Olive Schreiner gives for writing about her home at the start of her 1883 novel, _The Story of An African Farm_: "he must squeeze the color from his brush, and dip it into the grey pigments around him. He must paint what lies before him."
If you're interested in American literature, issues of class and land ownership in Trump's America, or disability in literature, I think this book would be of interest to you!
January 14, 2020
Black River was one of my best reads of 2015, and Hulse's exquisitely written second book is just as good. Eden Mine is another realistic look at life in the rural west. The mines are closed, forests are logged out, work is scarce and non-resort towns are dying. And yet those who cling to their homes do so with hard work and indomitable spirit. When the Faber home is claimed by eminent domain, Samuel responds by blowing up the courthouse, inadvertently injuring folks attending a street front church service across the street. He leaves his wheel chair bound younger sister to cope with packing up their condemned home. Jo is no helpless victim. She works part-time, cooks and cares for a home, drives her own car, manages to hoist herself up on her mule to ride to the mountains, and paints western scenes to sell to tourists.
But there's only so much she can do from a wheel chair. With no available accommodations for a handicapped person in their small rural town, the clock is running. The condemned property is in her brother's name, so no resettlement money for Jo. An FBI agent hovers and threatens her with obstruction of justice because she won't tell him anything he might use to find her fugitive brother.
The author carefully unfolds this story of loss and grief, human courage, of a young woman who doesn't waste time with self-pity, but copes, tackling both her psychological and physical obstacles as they appear. And of a young man fighting for his faith. The Montana setting is vibrant and alive, as are the characters. This is an absolutely wonderful and compelling book--it will be hard to top this January read any time soon.
But there's only so much she can do from a wheel chair. With no available accommodations for a handicapped person in their small rural town, the clock is running. The condemned property is in her brother's name, so no resettlement money for Jo. An FBI agent hovers and threatens her with obstruction of justice because she won't tell him anything he might use to find her fugitive brother.
The author carefully unfolds this story of loss and grief, human courage, of a young woman who doesn't waste time with self-pity, but copes, tackling both her psychological and physical obstacles as they appear. And of a young man fighting for his faith. The Montana setting is vibrant and alive, as are the characters. This is an absolutely wonderful and compelling book--it will be hard to top this January read any time soon.
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