Eve by: Elissa Elliott

This book was a pretty big let down. It had a lot of potential in the beginning. But the story never really fully developed the story line that the author was trying to tell. While some of the the characters, Eve, and her daughters seemed to be pretty well developed, all of the men in the story were shallow with little, or no depth. Adam was portrayed as an idealized husband -- that never really played any part in the story. And he was only ever presented after any crisis -- but he never really seemed to be involved with this family he helped to create.

Cain and Abel came across as two boys that never really seemed to grow up. The ground work that lead up to the ultimate, climactic crisis -- that of Cain killing Abel, always seemed to be childhood spats, and sibling rivalry. I never really felt that there was ever any one event that could have become the catalyst that would lead to the ultimate crime.

I think part of the problem I had with this book is that the entire thing was told from the women's perspective -- so the only real portrayal of the men was through their eyes. The men only ever play a superficial role, on the fringes of the story, and by the end we know more about every thing Eve had to endure in every one of her different child births, than we do about the real conflict that existed between Cain and Abel. And the challenges that the family may have had to endure, following their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Not only that -- but I felt like the only interaction of Adam in the family was for stud services, to provide children. He has absolutely little, or no depth at all. It almost felt like a feminist presentation of the original family.

Over all I don't know that I would recommend this book. It felt like it was the retelling of the old Bible story -- without the men being involved. A strange approach to a couple that were directed to "multiply and relpenish the Earth."