Publication Date: May 6, 2025
“Chasing the truth, huh? Sure you’re not running from it?” Hollis might be her only friend, a lanky boy Mama calls her “beau,” but Eden Lewis has no time for his hogwash. She’s got a mystery to crack. For most fourteen-year-olds, California summers in the early 1970s mean sun and surf, despite the Cold War chill. Not for Eden. Her AWOL father has sent her life into a tailspin, landing her in a shabby beach town, stuck caring for her severely disabled brother. Caught in her parents’ own cold war, Eden ditches Dex at every chance—pier fishing with Hollis, playing poker with the grizzled card sharks, and caterwaulin’ in the church choir, laying plain to the Almighty that singing terms ain’t the same as speaking terms, what with the hand he’s dealt her.
Then Raven arrives mid-ninth grade—an elusive Soviet girl rumored to rain black-winged curses over the fearful town. When a rash of petty crimes escalates to bloodshed on the beach, suspicion falls on the “commie”—and then Eden. Desperate to prove herself innocent, and Raven guilty, she embarks on a reckless game of chase. But for the truth to set her free, she must risk Dex’s life. Will she go all in, no matter the cost?
An evocative story laced with mystery, Turning Toward Eden weaves nostalgia with grit, sorrow with humor, and despair with faith, offering hope to anyone who has sought to belong in a world that rarely plays fair.
Few books strike a chord with me as Author Cate Touryan’s Turning Toward Eden did, but it gripped me and stayed with me for a very long time. It is a very bittersweet book. It enthralls you and makes you stagger for a second. That’s what this book did to me. Not very many books have that impact on me.
The main character, Eden, has a brother with an intellectual disability and special needs. I can understand the emotional pain the family goes through with a family member who has a disability. My sister is intellectually disabled. It took a heavy toll on our family, and it wasn’t easy. However, we love her immensely.
There were similarities between Eden and me, and I made natural comparisons, which allowed me to relate to Eden in many ways. My mother would never have allowed my sister to be placed in an institution. Mothers have a different dynamic between a disabled child and a “normal” child, and that is conveyed very clearly throughout the book.
Touryan paints an expressive story with heart, humor, anguish, tenacity, and faith. Life is not supposed to be easy, but through our struggles, life can be beautiful. With whimsical, well-developed characters, stunning settings, and literary exposition, this book will move the most jaded reader.
Turning Toward Eden is a lyrical, thoughtful, gripping, and emotionally charged read that will stay with readers for a long time.
Cate Touryan writes fiction and creative nonfiction that reach for the story beyond the story and the beginning beyond “The End.” Her complex, realistic narratives often touch on themes of faith. While she avoids gratuitous violence and profanity, keeping any romance clean, she does not shy away from portraying the grit and beauty of real life, instead writing the truest story she can, infused with heart and humor. Her fiction will delight young adults and adults still young.
Cate invites you to journey with her into lives both real and imagined, wherein might lie glimpses of your own story beyond the story and an ending redeemed.
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It’s always awesome when we connect so completely with the books we read. Great review.
Oh, Lori, what a beautiful, heartfelt review! I’m so honored by your words and so touched that you shared about your own family situation. Thank you for reading, reviewing, and recommending the novel. Your careful, thoughtful reading and your deep resonance with the story mean the world to me! xoxo
P.S. Am I allowed to ask you to post your review on other platforms, like Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble?
This looks really good. Thanks for sharing.
I hope you love it, Michael! Thanks for your interest!