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52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The book I've been waiting for . . ., October 4, 2008
This review is from: Havah: The Story of Eve - A Novel (Paperback)
It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a book as much as the one I just finished reading.
Havah: the story of Eve by Tosca Lee. I'm not even sure where to begin. Here--I loved it. I devoured it. From the moment I cracked the spine and started to read, I was compelled to finish. Not many books command me to read them, tell me to stop working, stay up late, and sacrifice my entire Saturday so that I might spend a few more moments seated before the hearth of someone else's tale.
Havah required that I hear her story.
The book never felt like a piece of fiction to me. It was as if, finally, the veil had been lifted and I could hear the beginning verses of Genesis told in Eve's voice. As if we crouched together before a flickering fire, the night wind at our backs, and like a beloved friend, she told me all of her secrets.
Tosca has created a masterpiece in Havah.
Chapter one begins with the birth of Havah (Eve) in the Garden. With a poetic voice, Tosca tells the tale of the first woman, her relationship with "the adam" and her desire to know the One that Is. Havah frolics in a perfect world, where the river sounds like music and the air is stained with the fragrance of pomegranate and plum. Her dearest friends are a lioness, Levia, and a fallow deer, Adah, and it is through these relationships that we later see the bitter contrast between life in the Garden and life after the Fall.
Because, of course, Havah has yet one more friend--a serpent. More beautiful than any of the other animals, it dwells on an island, always near a tree that bears forbidden fruit.
If you think this is a story you've heard before, you're wrong. No one has ever told this tale with such lush detail. As much as I have contemplated Eve and her life in the Garden--and I have--I never saw it this way. Havah is both heartbreaking and stunningly beautiful.
Tosca's voice, so unique and fluid in rhythm, reminds me at times of Sue Monk Kidd or Janet Fitch. But the spiritual quality of this book elevates it to another plateau.
This is exactly the type of story, book, and author that I have been waiting to see emerge in CBA. I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to get lost in another world, anyone who would like to experience the Book of Genesis in a fresh way, or anyone looking for a story that is beautiful and compelling from beginning to end.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Prose and Breathtaking Description, September 21, 2008
This review is from: Havah: The Story of Eve - A Novel (Paperback)
The story of Adam and Eve is both the oldest and most familiar story known to man. In fact, it is so familiar that we think we know all there is to know. Then along comes a story like Havah that pulls back the veil, giving us a wondrous glimpse into what life might have really been like for the first man and woman.
Havah is told from the perspective of Eve, and from the opening lines Tosca Lee hooks us with her intoxicating style and clever storytelling. All of the famous events are here: the garden, the fall, the story of Cain and Abel. But make no mistake about it: this is not the version you heard in Sunday school. Lee holds nothing back in her descriptive narrative as she explores the intimate relationship between Adam and Eve and their rugged lifestyle. Eve's firsthand account of the fall is gut wrenching and emotional, bringing yet more vitality to another familiar aspect of this story. I was especially moved and anguished over the beautiful, yet flawed relationship of the first husband and wife.
As the story unfolds Tosca Lee gives some intriguing speculative insight into many of the questions that surround Adam and Eve. How many children did they have? How exactly was the Earth populated? What was their relationship really like? How did they interact with God? Every aspect of this story is backed by careful research and study, and even if you don't agree with Tosca Lee's viewpoint, you have to admire her willingness to re-explore this monumental moment in history.
Havah is a beautiful tale that will awe and inspire you at every turn. With beautiful prose and breathtaking description, Tosca Lee has breathed new life into the story we thought we all knew so well. Allow yourself to step out of the box for a moment and experience a retelling of Adam and Eve that will leave you desperate for more.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A deep and resounding ache, December 9, 2009
This review is from: Havah: The Story of Eve - A Novel (Paperback)
The story of Havah drips with the sorrow of womankind from the very first sentence: "I have seen paradise and ruin. I have known bliss and terror. I have walked with God." From there the story unfolds - the story we all know so well - except when you read Havah you realize you really don't know the story so well after all. There are so many things you've never considered, so many emotions you've never felt.
Each page brings new surprises.
Havah is a work of art, and from the other reviews, it sounds like I'm not the only person who feels that way.
Specifically:
-It successfully replaced my flannel-board childhood conception of Adam and Eve and the garden with much richer 3D imagery.
-There was never any point where I said to myself "Dang, that one little choice there kind of screwed up the whole story." All the elements were very wisely and carefully chosen.
-I liked the deliberate avoidance of cliche. I'm a copywriter and there's a phrase we copywriters probably stole from the fiction writers - I'm not sure - but it's "Make the familiar strange, and the strange familiar." Havah accomplishes that. Like the name Tosca chose for Cain. The way she portrayed the serpent. The poetry, the specific ways Eden's perfection devolves into chaos, Eve's clear, consistent, recognizable voice. The estrangement that grows between Havah and the adam.
As I reached the last few chapters, the story developed a running-towards-the-finishline pace. It was reminiscent of the last few chapters of Barbara Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible"... except Poisonwood Bible is an angst-driven drum beat. Havah's is the heartbeat of the mother of humanity and the love of The One.
The final chapter is superb. It brings everything full circle in a most gratifying way. It was almost as though the author started out on a spiritual journey of her own - not quite convinced it would take her where she hoped to go - and found, in the end, that it was even better than she dreamed.
Excellent work, Tosca.
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