Island Morning Book Club: This Other Eden, by Paul Harding
This book club is led by Joan Pettigrew and meets the third Thursday at 10:15 am. All are welcome and their list of book club picks are available at the front desk.
In 1792, formerly enslaved Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife, Patience, discover an island where they can make a life together. Over a century later, the Honeys' descendants and a diverse group of neighbors are poor, isolated, and often hungry, but nevertheless protected from the hostility awaiting them on the mainland. During the tumultuous summer of 1912, 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, and develop the island as a vacation destination.
- Date:
- Thursday, November 20, 2025 Show more dates
- Time:
- 10:15am - 11:15am
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Library Branch:
- Island Branch Library
- Location:
- Meeting Room
- Audience:
- Adults (18+)
- Categories:
- Literacy > Book Clubs & Author Talks
Island Library Branch Supervisor
Sports & Leisure
Manatee County Government
aaron.drake@mymanatee.org
(941) 778-6341 ext. 6373