Strange Eden
Gina Giordano
Genre:
Historical
Publisher: Kaferhaus Press
Publication Date: 2023
Format: e book supplied to me by Voracious Readers in return for an honest review
Star Rating: 4/5 I liked it a lot and recommend.
About Book: Everything familiar to Eliza has been ripped away. Even worse, the cruel deed was done by her own hands. Nassau, Bahamas, 1791… Eliza Sharpe, recently wed to a mysterious and brooding soldier, departs for the West Indies with him to begin their new life. Once there, she realizes their marital arrangement is ill-fated and that she has made a disastrous choice. Charles, the man she finds herself bound to, is nothing short of a monster. On their very first night in New Providence, her innocence is irrevocably shattered. The walls of her new home hide a dark family secret, and Eliza realizes that the freedom she sought within marriage is a worse cage than the constraints she faced before. Eliza struggles with her new existence, her exposure to Charles’ explosive temper, the brutality of slavery, and her isolation as she tries to grow accustomed to life on distant shores. The only source of comfort she finds is swimming in the startlingly clear ocean, an activity Charles expressly forbids. As she attempts to flee her deteriorating situation, an unexpected encounter with a beguiling stranger named Jean offers a promise of escape. Despite the dark rumours that swirl around her recent acquaintance and his mysterious past, he captures Eliza’s interest, and ultimately, her heart―with deadly consequences. On an island where nothing is as it appears, Eliza is confronted with the harsh realities of living on the fringe of empire, of womanhood, and the overt corruption that festers in the governor’s mansion on the hill. Will she ever be able to secure her freedom―and possibly even find redemption in love?
My Thoughts: “Strange Eden” by Gino Giordano is an exciting first novel set within the period of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, set in the Bahamas. The book takes us through the beginning of married life of Lady Eliza and Lieutenant Colonel Charles Sharpe. Eliza’s character is compelling as she does not conform to the time she is living in; she brings forward feelings that make you love and dislike her at the same time. She is naïve, and overconfident but is consumed by love and hatred at the same time. The book takes you on a journey and was difficult to put down as it has everything, history, romance, family dilemmas, friendship, betrayal, corruption and even a little sorcery and I am looking forward to the next instalment.