Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but not Overwhelming
Review: After reading "The Pilot's Wife", I thought that I could also read other books of Anita Shreve. As we had to read a book in school I chose "Eden Close" by the same author. But I was a little bit disappointed. I didn't really enjoy reading this book. It wasn't as exciting as "The Pilot's Wife". There's Andrew who returns to his hometown for his mother's funeral. This visit remembers him that hot, bloody night when Eden Close, his youth love, blinded - by the same gun that killed her father. At the beginning he didn't intend to stay there, but now he wants to know what really happened that night in the summer. Eden and Andrew had been childhood companions and now, Andrew looks for his Eden who is blind. He goes for walks with her to the sea, they often were in there childhood. They love each other and they decide to live together...Andrew wants to take with him Eden to New York. But first, he has to discover the truth about that night... This book is interesting but not overwhelming.
Rating: 
Summary: Bittersweet answers to a painful past
Review: Anita Shreve captures an east coast small town so well in this tidy story of a man returning home for his mother's funeral. After the book is done, the images of the house, the pond, the town and the people seem to linger in one's mind, a compliment to her writing style.The story revolves around Andrew returning to his boyhood farm home to take care of his mother's final buisness and prepare to sell the house. It is the first time he has been home in almost 20 years. His homecoming also dredges up the memories of one hot summer night that provoked unresolved questions and images that haunted him still. Andrew was spending his last summer at home before leaving for college when the town's world was rocked by horrific events at the farm house next door. The shocking murder of his next door neighbor and the sexual assault of his 14 year old daughter, Eden was heady news for the townsfolk to grasp. No one ever knew what exactly happened that fateful summer night, where women screaming woke up Andrew and his parents. Andrew, at 17, was especially affected. Eden and he had become close friends since she was 11. He struggled with feelings of affection and being a protective "brother. That night also marked the last time he saw Eden. Delicately played out, the story unfolds with generous images. Suspicions are implied, and the reader may guess at the perpetrator, but this in no way negatively impacts the impressive delivery. This is a lovely, tender story of bittersweet answers to a painful past.
Rating: 
Summary: Can't go wrong with Anita Shreve!
Review: Anita Shreve has once again enthralled me with her wonderful writing. Eden Close enthralled me from beginning to end. This novel entertained and engrossed me in a way that a novel of this sort hasn't done for a long time. The story centers on Andrew and his journey to self-discovery after his mother dies. While I guessed what the "secret" was early on, and I won't go into deal so as not to ruin it for the potential reader, it did not matter at all to the enjoyment of the novel. Full of twists and turns, what really makes this novel incredible, as well as all of Anita's other works, is her character development and her unique style of writing. She really makes me care about the characters in a way that you wish them well in their endeavors. Not only do I recommend this novel, I guarantee that it will pull you in and won't let go until its final page. Also try The Pilot's Wife and The Weight of Water.
Rating:
Summary: Not her best
Review: Anita Shreve is one of my favorite authors but I wouldn't call this one of her best. It's not that I didn't like it either~I just didn't get real into it.It took me quite a long time to read it.The storyline was good & despite the simplicity of it & the draw out part before the plot was formed--I did like it. I thought it was worth reading & all. But if you wanna read something from Ms. Shreve--don't start with this.Try Fortune's Rocks or The Pilot's Wife.I just don't think it was all that good.
Rating:
Summary: A Captivating Novel!
Review: Anita Shreve, author of Eden Close, has written a novel that could be described as an enticing page-turner; one I personally enjoyed.
Reading this story of childhood friendship, love, and a second chance at rediscovering a murder of the past, was tantalizing and kept me on the edge on my seat.
Growing up as neighbors in New York, Eden Close and Andrew had always been childhood friends.
Now a successful sales man in New York City, Andrew returns to the family farm after his mother's death, to renovate the house before it is put up for sale. Being home triggers childhood memories of Eden, and the unexpected murder that took place at the Close residence twenty some years ago. Soon Andrew is determined to rekindle their childhood friendship, and the long lost love he once shared with Eden Close.
Through many confrontations with Edith (Eden's jealous mother), Andrew discovers that Eden is not the same person she used to be. The murder not only cost Eden her sight, but her spunky personality that Andrew once knew and loved.
Throughout many secret gatherings and talks, Andrew is soon given the full details of that frightening night. Through these talks and discoveries, both Eden and Andrew recognize their love for one another. Soon their past events will developed their future, and with each other, their lives will be forever changed.
This story takes readers into a life of turmoil, guilt, love, and compassion, showing how friendship and love can cure all. It is mesmerizing, compelling and at times haunting. Eden Close is a good read, and a story many readers wont soon forget.
Rating:
Summary: Typical!
Review: Another example of Anita Shreve's excellent work! One of my favorites! A must read for any fan of Anita's or even a fan of good books! :)
Rating:
Summary: Powerful
Review: Another one of Shreve's great works, the character of Eden Close is one I found myself feeling sad for many of the characters. It is a haunting book, and one that will effect the reader for days after its completion. It is beautifully written and compelling.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Another one of Shreve's great works, the character of Eden Close is one I found myself feeling sad for, as well as many of the other characters. It seems they are stuck in the past, and need to find a way to relinquish it and not be so effected by it. It is a haunting book, and one that will effect the reader for days after finsihing it. It is beautifully written and compelling.
Rating: 
Summary: Painful. And not in a cathartic way.
Review: Don't get me wrong--I loved the Weight of Water. But this one? Yes, I guessed the "secret" about twenty seconds in. But what really kills the book is the crashing symbolism (the thunderstorm crashing down just as the climax approaches....he wants to run away, but his car won't start, maybe because he doesn't REALLY want to go! etc.) and Andy's incredibly irritating condescension towards Eden. Not to mention the fact he fell in love with her based on what? No conversations, nothing but their past as TEENAGERS. Whatever! One flash of promise, though--the friend TJ. He could've easily fallen into a stereotype, what with his "Andy-boys" and "I work out, don't you?", but he showed more insight and depth than that. I would've added 1/2 a star to the rating for him, except Amazon doesn't accept decimals, and 2 stars is too generous for what is essentially a gothic nightmare of a novel. I'm so glad I didn't read this one first, or I probably never would have tried Shreve again!
Rating:
Summary: A Page Turner!
Review: EDEN CLOSE by Anita Shreve EDEN CLOSE by Anita Shreve centers on a murder that takes place almost 20 years ago in a small rural town in upstate New York. Andrew, now working in sales and advertising in New York city, returns home for his mother's funeral and brings back with him memories of his childhood friend Eden and that murder which took place next door at the Close family's residence. Eden Close was a childhood friend of Andrew, he being seventeen at the time of the murder, and Eden only fourteen. He recalls the blossoming of their friendship, the recklessness that was part of Eden's personality, and the murder of her father that was still a mystery to Andrew all these years later. He remembers bits and pieces of what may have happened, but on that fateful night, all he remembers is hearing a gunshot, screams, and nothing more. Upon his return home for the funeral, Andrew stays to deal with the family property and get it ready for sale. He is the only surviving member, his father having passed away five years earlier from a heart attack, and he is an only child. As he goes through the many old items in the house, he recalls his childhood and the murder and accident that caused Eden to lose her sight. While Eden was such a big part of Andrew's life when they were growing up, he has had nothing to do with her since the murder. He finds out that she's been shut inside her home with Edith Close for all these years, except for a few years where she spent time in a special facility. He becomes obsessed with his need to get in contact with Eden, and to find out what has happened to her, despite Edith's determination to keep Andrew away from Eden. Andrew does succeed in getting in contact with Eden again. And slowly, she feeds him the story about what really happened twenty years ago, as they slowly rekindle their friendship and lost love, behind Edith's back. What Andrew finds out is a shocker, and the book culminates in a scene straight out of the movies. I really enjoyed EDEN CLOSE. I started the book having no idea what it was about, but I was not disappointed. A page-turner from the very first page, it took me only two days to read the entire book. While parts of the plot I did find predictable, it was the journey of the story that kept me going, not the ending. EDEN CLOSE comes highly recommended.
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