Eden Undone

Reviews

“We all long for utopias to escape into, but as Abbott Kahler brilliantly demonstrates in the sumptuous storytelling feat that is her latest nonfiction book, Eden Undone, there simply is no escaping the hell that is other people. I was wowed by her research, her depiction of the tropical magic of the Galápagos Islands, her empathy for such a vivid array of characters—some of whom behave very badly—and for the larger point that paradises can be squandered by human venality.”—Sarah Weinman, award-winning author of The Real Lolita and Scoundrel

“Eden Undone is a mind-blowing tale of adventure, obsession, and hubris, with more twists—and more eccentric characters—than an Agatha Christie mystery. (The gun-toting, sex-crazed Baroness is surely one of the more spectacular villains in true-crime history.) In Abbott Kahler’s ever-brilliant hands, truth is always stranger than fiction.”—Ada Calhoun, New York Times bestselling author of Why We Can’t Sleep

“Absolutely riveting from start to the final twist of the knife, Eden Undone is a thrill ride of historical reportage. Abbott Kahler has woven an impossibly rich tapestry: an exotic locale, a cast of unforgettable characters, and a deeply haunting murder mystery. This is Kahler’s most captivating book yet and will cement her place as a master of narrative nonfiction.”—Susannah Cahalan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire and The Great Pretender

“Brilliantly written, deeply researched, and wildly unpredictable, Eden Undone is a masterwork of narrative nonfiction, an immersive and exhilarating read.”—Michael Finkel, New York Times bestselling author of The Art Thief and The Stranger in the Woods

“A wild ride through an extraordinary true story, Eden Undone is addictive and astonishing. It combines a forgotten piece of history with the urgency of a murder mystery in the most unlikely setting. It will captivate you.”—Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author of The Library Book
 
“Abbott Kahler is a master of nonfiction suspense, with a touch of the macabre. Eden Undone reads like a dark and twisted Gilligan’s Island—half wasteland and half paradise, haunted by utopian delusions, mysterious deaths, and madness.”—Debby Applegate, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age
 
“One of my favorite writers has knocked it out of the park yet again. In Eden Undone, Abbott Kahler has created a book as fantastic as the true story she weaves. With taut prose and sublime storytelling, she crafts an atmospheric page-turner, ominous and thought-provoking, with the best last line I’ve read in decades.”—Kate Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The Radium Girls and The Woman They Could Not Silence

“In describing Abbott Kahler’s wickedly gothic tale, one is tempted to reach for handy literary or cinematic references. There’s a dash of Conrad. A bit of Hitchcock. Notes of Melville, Darwin, and Robinson Crusoe—and certainly more than a whiff of Lord of the Flies. But really, Eden Undone is completely its own thing. Bizarre, mesmerizing, and compellingly tragic, Kahler’s fine book confronts an essential truth about those who ditch civilization: Try as we might, humans cannot elude the tyranny of our own nature.”—Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of The Wide Wide Sea

“Kahler (the author of previous books, including Sin in the Second City and The Ghosts of Eden Park, under the name Karen Abbott) has a gift for writing gripping histories that are both sensational and thoroughly documented. Possibly her wildest book yet.”—Booklist, starred review​ Expand reviews