This Other Eden by Paul Harding

 "In 1792, formerly enslaved Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife, Patience, discover an island where they can make a life together. Over a century later, the Honeys’ descendants and a diverse group of neighbors are desperately poor, isolated, and often hungry, but nevertheless protected from the hostility awaiting them on the mainland.

During the tumultuous summer of 1912, Matthew Diamond, a retired, idealistic but prejudiced schoolteacher-turned-missionary, disrupts the community’s fragile balance through his efforts to educate its children. His presence attracts the attention of authorities on the mainland who, under the influence of the eugenics-thinking popular among progressives of the day, decide to forcibly evacuate the island, institutionalize its residents, and develop the island as a vacation destination. Beginning with a hurricane flood reminiscent of the story of Noah’s Ark, the novel ends with yet another Ark."

- From the publisher's website

This story's content, inspired by the tragic true story of Maine's Malaga Island, is not easy to stomach as island residents face violence, racism, and forced relocation at the hands of the government. But Harding's lyrical writing, which packs complex characters and settings into just 224 pages, made this book hard for me to put down. I plan to read more by Harding, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and I'd recommend "This Other Eden" to anyone who likes literary or historical fiction. 

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