Finalist for the 2023 National Book AwardShortlisted for the 2023 Booker PrizeFrom thePulitzer Prize–winning author ofTinkers, a novel inspired by the true story of Malaga Island, an isolated island off the coast of Maine that became one of the first racially integrated towns in the Northeast.In1792, formerly enslavedBenjamin Honey& hisIrishwife,Patience, discover an island where they can make a life together. Over a century later, theHoneys’descendants & a diverse group of neighbors are desperately poor, isolated, & often hungry, but nevertheless protected from the hostility awaiting them on the mainland.During the tumultuous summer of1912,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, & develop the island as a vacation destination. Beginning with a hurricane flood reminiscent of the story ofNoah’s Ark, the novel ends with yet anotherArk.In prose of breathtaking beauty & power,Paul Hardingbrings to life an unforgettable cast of characters:Iris&Violet McDermott, sisters raising three orphanedPenobscotchildren;TheophilusandCandace Larks& their brood of vagabond children; the propheticZachary HandtoGod Proverbs, aCivil Warveteran who lives in a hollow tree; & more. A spellbinding story of resistance & survival,This Other Edenis an enduring testament to the struggle to preserve human dignity in the face of intolerance & injustice.