Title: Eve's Daughters
Author: Lynn Austin
Genre: Fiction, Christian
Year Published: 1999
Synopsis: What would you do if a secret was causing your family to crumble? Is there a secret terrible enough that it should never be revealed, not even if it was tearing a family apart? For more than five decades Emma Bauer has kept one, carefully guarding it with all her strength, and for more than five decades that choice has haunted her life and also the lives of her daughters and granddaughter. Is it too late for wrongs to be righted? Does Emma even have the strength to let the healing power of truth work in her family?
The story of four generations of women and the powerful effects that their choices have had on their lives is at the heart of Eve's Daughters, an epic novel from author Lynn Austin. Grand in scope but tender and personal at the same time, it will please you as a fan of contemporary or historical fiction.
Chosen by: Lindsay
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Lindsay's Review
I was having a difficult time choosing a book for the club to read and I kept coming back to Eve’s Daughters. This is one of my favorite books in this genre; I have read it twice and loved it each time. I wanted to share it with my fellow book lovers because it is such an easy read and is instantly captivating.
Every time I read this story my heart breaks for little Gracie, who grows up without knowing her father (or so she is led to believe). I love it when the priest walks her down the aisle on her wedding day. I also admire Emma’s spunky resilience and Suzanne’s fiery Irish personality. Louise’s path to forgiveness is something we can all learn from.
One of the reasons this book resonates with me is because I can see mirrors from the women in my own family. My mother lost her father to suicide when she was 7 years old and her step-father to alcohol poisoning at the age of 13; my grandmother was married when she was 16 to a man 10 years her senior. I believe that God can use any hard situation in our lives and turn it around for the better. I appreciate authors like Lynn Austin who provide us with quality reading that reminds us what is truly important in life.
Jaimie's Review
I really liked this book! It hooked me and kept me reading until the end. The premise of the story had me intrigued from the beginning: 4 generations of women, making choices and reacting to the choices their mothers made. Have you noticed how uniquely complicated the relationships between mothers and daughters can be? I certainly have, so I was interested to see the take the author had on this struggle between mothers and daughters.
From what I understood of the book, the author’s basic premise was that since Eve’s first sin, women have generally been repeating her pattern – trying to break any perceived confines in order to live life the way they want it. Unfortunately, the way we want to live life doesn’t always match with the way God wants us to live our lives, and therefore trouble follows. It was great to see this dynamic over time, through 4 generations. The time span helped illustrate that the choices one woman makes doesn’t just change her life, it alters the course of her descendants as well, in immeasurable and unforeseeable ways.
As for the author’s writing style, I felt that she was more comfortable (and creative) telling the stories about the past, as the characters reminisce. The dialogue in the present-day scenarios was a little boring and predictable. Some parts did get a tad preachy and the author even took one person out of character in order to communicate a spiritual message. (The grandmother, who has not made her peace with God yet, worries about her granddaughter falling away from Him? Doesn’t seem likely…) Anyway, these parts are few and far between, with the stories of the women’s lives interesting enough to make this book very worthwhile.
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Kristin's Review
Eve’s Daughters caught my attention from the very start and held it all the way through! Of course, Christian fiction is my favorite genre, and with a little added mystery and romance, I’m hooked!
I enjoyed hearing the stories of four generations of women beginning with Louise’s journey from Germany to America. Although we never got to meet Louise, we were able to hear her story from her daughter, Emma. Louise left Germany and her family because her husband was against being drafted and fighting in the army. The resentment she held against her husband Friedrich slowly turned to bitterness through the years and broke my heart. It was a good reminder to me of what unforgiveness towards your spouse can do. I was pleased when Louise slowly came to realize how much she truly loved Friedrich amidst the flood, thinking she had lost him. I am so glad he was still alive and she was able to tell him that she loved him.
During the course of Eve’s Daughters, Emma is busy packing her home and moving into assisted living. Through the move, she receives help from her daughter Grace and grand daughter Suzanne. Memories flood the room as they pack photo albums, mysterious poems, and special dishes. Emma’s daughter Grace has never known her father and suspects her mother lied to her when she accidentally told her that her father loved her more than life. Grace is confused because she grew up knowing her father tried to get her mother to have an abortion when she was pregnant with her. So Grace and her daughter Suzanne begin to investigate.
Okay, this is getting complicated and exhausting thinking of how much more I have to type! Why in the world should I continue trying to write a book review about a half a dozen to a dozen sub-plots and relationships? If I left you in suspense, you’ll just have to read it for yourself! Let’s just say I admire Lynn Austin’s abilities to intertwine four generations of women and their lives and loves, hopes and heartaches, triumphs and failures. This book was definitely a tear-jerker as I shared in each woman’s story of grief and joy.
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