Jim Crace’s eden conjures a closeted idyll which is anything but. Since Adam and Eve’s ignominious departure, the garden of paradise has been tended by humans who never age or go hungry. But it’s an emotionally empty space, presided over by angels with rules which prohibit intimate relationships and foster petty resentments. One day Tabi, a popular but restless inhabitant, decides to venture outside: to a world where poverty is rife, and people are mortal, but free. In a novel imbued with lyricism and compassion, Crace encourages the reader to embrace a world all the more beautiful for its ephemerality, pain and messiness.
eden by Jim Crace is out now (Picador, £16.99). You can buy it from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops.
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