might reduce the sentence, but I shouldn’t kid myself: This would be no juvie offense.) If he’d been a dad himself, that’s what he would have done, and maybe ten years from now we’d both be better off.
Anyway, if I live to a very old age, I know I’ll have tons and tons of regrets. I mean that. But somehow I don’t think putting a bullet into my dad’s head is ever going to be one of them.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Once again I am indebted to a great many early readers, none of whom is a literal angel but all of whom were profoundly helpful. Among them? There is the Reverend David Wood, one of my closest friends and the pastor of the church where I have worshipped most of my adult life. There is Lauren Bowerman, an assistant attorney general with the State of Vermont. This is the third time that Lauren has graciously told me what is authentic in one of my manuscripts and what is completely ridiculous.
In addition, Dr. Steven Shapiro, the chief medical examiner for the State of Vermont, helped me understand what would have happened to the fictional George and Alice Hayward after they died. Siri Rooney, the victim advocate for the Lamoille County state’s attorney’s office, shared with me the horrors that a battered woman such as Alice was likely to endure, as well as the resources that were available to her. Meanwhile Bridget Butler taught me about birds. Among the books that were especially valuable was Dr. Louis Cataldie’s memoir of his years as the chief coroner of Baton Rouge,
Other readers included a variety of friends and agents, many of whom are both, including Stephen Kiernan, Jane Gelfman, and Dean Schramm; my editor of fifteen years and one of my very closest friends, Shaye Areheart; my lovely bride of a quarter century now, Victoria Blewer; and, for the first time, my deeply thoughtful teenage daughter, Grace Experience.
I am grateful as well to Cathy Gleason at Gelfman Schneider; to Arlynn Greenbaum at Authors Unlimited; and to the whole enthusiastic team at the Crown Publishing Group: Andy Augusto, Patty Berg, Cindy Berman, Sarah Breivogel, Whitney Cookman, Jill Flaxman, Jenny Frost, Kate Kennedy, Christine Kopprasch, Jacqui Lebow, Matthew Martin, Donna Passannante, Philip Patrick, Annsley Rosner, Jay Sones, Katie Wainwright, Kira Walton, and Campbell Wharton. It really does take a village-or a skyscraper floor.
I thank you all for your wisdom, your counsel, and your honesty.
SECRETS OF EDEN by Chris Bohjalian
“There,” says Alice Hayward to Reverend Stephen Drew, just after her baptism, and just before going home to the husband who will kill her that evening and then shoot himself. Drew, tortured by the cryptic finality of that short utterance, feels his faith in God slipping away and is saved from despair only by a meeting with Heather Laurent, an author of wildly successful inspirational books about… angels.
Heather survived a childhood that culminated in her parents’ murder-suicide, so she identifies deeply with Alice’s and George’s daughter, Katie, offering herself as a mentor to the girl and a shoulder for Stephen-who flees the pulpit to be with Heather and see if there is anything to be salvaged from the spiritual wreckage around him.
But then the state’s attorney begins to suspect that Alice’s husband may not have killed himself… and finds out that Alice had secrets only her minister knew.
This reader’s guide is intended as a starting point for your discussion of the novel.
1. Re-read the quotes that open the book. One is from a leading voice of Enlightenment rationalism, the other from the Bible. Samuel Johnson speaks about loss and sorrow; the quote from Genesis is about the bonds of marriage. What did you think of this unique pairing when you began reading? Now that you’ve finished
2. What did you think of the title before you began reading? The phrase “secrets of Eden” appears when Heather Laurent and Reverend Drew are together in New York: “He pulled me against him and said simply, ‘There were no secrets in Eden’”. What do you think Reverend Drew means by that? What are the secrets in the biblical Eden? Where is the “Eden” in
3. Chris Bohjalian is known for writing novels with an evocative sense of place: New England, especially small- town Vermont. How does the setting of
4. The novel begins from Reverend Stephen Drew’s perspective. How would you describe his voice as a narrator? Is he sympathetic? Reliable? What is his state of mind? In the first few pages of the first chapter, what does Reverend Drew reveal about himself? About Alice Hayward’s life and death? What does he
5. When he recalls Alice Hayward’s baptism, Reverend Drew remembers the word “there” in a poignant way, comparing the last word Alice spoke to him with Christ’s last words on the cross. Why do you think this simple word-“there”-is given such weighty importance? How is it related to what Reverend Drew calls “the seeds of my estrangement from my calling”?
6. Reverend Drew says of his calling to the church: “All I can tell you is I believe I was sent”. He then delves into a grisly description of the Crucifixion, recalling the first time he studied it in high school. With what we know about Reverend Drew up to this point, how did this revelation help you understand him? Were you drawn in or repulsed by his fixation?
7. How does Reverend Drew explain his spiritual breakdown? Was there one moment when he lost his faith (Alice’s baptism, her death) or was it the result of a series of events? What kind of response did you have to his breakdown? One of empathy? Curiosity? Suspicion?
8. Before we hear from Catherine in her own voice, we see her through Reverend Drew’s eyes. What is your first impression of her from his perspective? Does that impression change once you see things from her point of view? What words would you use to describe Catherine?
9. Catherine says of Reverend Drew, “the guy had ice in his veins… [a] serial-killer vibe”. How does this
