My Name Was Eden
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Get 3 months for £0.99/mo
My Name Was Eden
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Lucy Price-Lewis
About this listen
ABIGAIL DEAN, international bestselling author of Girl A
One twin vanished. One twin reappeared. *A Reader's Digest most anticipated book of the year*‘A fantastic debut – unpredictable, tense and absorbing’ ROSE CARLYLE, #1 international bestselling author of The Girl in the Mirror
‘Dark and creepy . . . in the most compelling way. A proper page-turner’ KATY BRENT, bestselling author of How to Kill Men and Get Away with It
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When Eden is rescued from the lake, her mother Lucy has a second chance.
No one knows why the 14-year-old Eden almost drowned on her way home from school. But now she’s safe, Lucy can start being a good mother. The mother she should have always been, before the loss of Eden’s twin during the pregnancy consumed Lucy, all those years ago.
But when Eden wakes up in hospital, she claims that Eden isn’t her name. That her name is Eli – the name Lucy had reserved for the unborn twin.
Could it be that all this time, Lucy’s grief has been misplaced?
Eden, it seems, is the twin who’s really disappeared . . .
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‘Peels back the layers of family life . . . Had me reading far too late into the night’ TAMMY COHEN, author of The Wedding Party
‘A major new voice in psychological thrillers’ MINDY MEJIA, bestselling author of Everything You Want Me to Be
‘A deep dive into the messy emotions of love and mourning . . . A great read’ HELEN FIELDS, international bestselling author of The Institution
©2024 Eleanor Barker-White (P)2024 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
'It's marketed as a perfect read for fans of Ashley Audrain's The Push. Let's just say this debut thriller delivered' READER'S DIGEST *30 Most Anticipated Books of 2024*
'This strong debut successfully explores intergenerational trauma in a twisty thriller with enough notes of horror to require reading with all the lights on' LIBRARY JOURNAL
'Exploring the shared burdens of grief, recovery, and misplaced loyalties, My Name Was Eden is a compelling debut' BOOKLIST
‘Gorgeously written and brimming with spine-tingling tension, My Name was Eden hooked me from the first page. This is not just a first-rate thriller but also a fascinating dive into questions of identity, perception, and who we choose to hold dear’ MINDY MEJIA
‘Shifting fluidly between family drama and thriller, My Name was Eden is a haunting exploration of motherhood at its most tested . . . Had me gripped from its heart-rending opening chapter through to its shocking end. Brilliant!’ AMY BEASHEL
‘Spellbinding, captivating, and entirely unique. I flew through this book, second guessing my every suspicion along the way’ NORA MURPHY
‘A tender take on parenting, isolation and intergenerational trauma. Barker-White creates the kind of claustrophobic dread you only find in the unhappiest of families, right to the final, sucker-punch pages’ ABIGAIL DEAL
‘Genuinely creepy and uncomfortable with a unique premise, clever writing and insightful observations’ HELEN FIELDS
‘Barker-White’s characters had me at the edge of my seat. I became submerged in a murky world so beautifully depicted. A story of memories, of longing and of heartbreak. Stunning’ KELECHI OKAFOR
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Don't listen to the epilogue
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Fourteen years later, Eden drowns in a nearby pond. Although clinically dead for a short time, she is revived and taken to hospital where she makes a full recovery. Well, almost full. Eden no longer wants to be called "Eden" but insists on being called Eli instead. She tells Lucy that Eden is "gone". All very interesting and exciting...
But then comes the other 60% of the book, which is nothing but repetition, repetition, repetition! A constant chorus about Lucy's mental health being in crisis, Lucy and James' marriage being in crisis, that Eden absolutely insists on being called Eli and her behaviour, mannerisms and personality are in crisis! The same topics are covered over and over with nothing new being added.
Except bodies. Lots of bodies are added.
At this point it seems Eleanor Barker-White decided to change the novel from an eerie story of a vanishing/reappearing twin acting in a very creepy way, into a body-dropping thriller. Unfortunately, nothing that comes prior has set the plot up for this twist - it comes out of nowhere and doesn't fit the rest of the tone of the book.
The ending feels very forced - as if Barker-White ran out of ideas (and energy) for the book and cobbled something together. Worse still, it was followed by an epilogue.
One of those ones.
The kind that is totally left field and leaves you screaming "What The Hell?!" at a twist that is just... Too much and that randomly changes the personality of an entire character at the very last second.
Rather than read My Name Was Eden, I listened on audiobook. It was narrated by Lucy Price-Lewis and that was probably the only reason I finished it. Lucy Price-Lewis could read the telephone book and I'd listen to her!
My Name Was Eden is Eleanor Barker-White's debut novel. Hopefully, she will take on board some of the feedback and reviews she has received for her first book if and when she comes to write a second. This novel started off very strong, if Barker-White can keep that kind of momentum throughout the entirety of a second novel, it will be an absolute knockout!
The same topics are covered over and over with nothing new being added. Except bodies. Lots of bodies are added.
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Looking forward to more…
Good plot twists
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