When the two melodies met, my breath stopped. He held the tune with a dramatic plunge of his hands against the keys, sending the last notes ringing off the arched ceiling of the chapel in a final, frightening chord that held no promise, no hope, only an unforgettable echo as if the walls wept at the pending silence.
“Eden”, he whispered my name like a reverent prayer and I stood. Our bodies brushed. He pressed against me, lowering his mouth to mine, his warm lips fluttering like his fingers had fluttered over the keys.
Warwick’s latest novel focuses on one (seemingly) archetypal senior high school girl. On the outside Eden is everything a teenage girl aspires to be- beautiful, popular and with a trail of teenage boys eating out the palm of her hand. However, inside, Eden is still coming to terms with the death of her mother as well as having to tackle with her distant father and difficult stepmother.
The need to choose an elective drives Eden to join the Concert Choir- a class she merely intends to breeze through. That is until Mr. Christian, the new and young music teacher walks into the room. Immediately Eden feels a powerful attraction to him and so begins the core of the story; the two characters interacting with one another and developing a constantly-shifting relationship which challenges not only Eden’s own maturity but the teacher-student boundaries that lie between them.
Absolutely compelling, I found it impossible to put this book down for even a minute. Warwick taps into the teenage mind perfectly and every girl who has fallen in love will recognise the emotions so aptly portrayed in this book. Surprisingly I found that rather than being disturbed by the teacher-student relationship, I actually rooted for the couple, finding that my own predispositions had changed without me even realising until the final chapter. A mark of a great story! Engrossed, I replied to my partner’s enquiry to what I was reading as ‘a naughty novel’, nonetheless, despite the often graphic descriptions of the relationship between the couple, Warwick’s poetic use of language gives the novel an air of definite class. Beautifully written and uniquely challenging, ‘A Season of Eden’ is one of my favourite reads of the year and most highly recommended for teenagers and adults alike.
“Eden”, he whispered my name like a reverent prayer and I stood. Our bodies brushed. He pressed against me, lowering his mouth to mine, his warm lips fluttering like his fingers had fluttered over the keys.
Warwick’s latest novel focuses on one (seemingly) archetypal senior high school girl. On the outside Eden is everything a teenage girl aspires to be- beautiful, popular and with a trail of teenage boys eating out the palm of her hand. However, inside, Eden is still coming to terms with the death of her mother as well as having to tackle with her distant father and difficult stepmother.
The need to choose an elective drives Eden to join the Concert Choir- a class she merely intends to breeze through. That is until Mr. Christian, the new and young music teacher walks into the room. Immediately Eden feels a powerful attraction to him and so begins the core of the story; the two characters interacting with one another and developing a constantly-shifting relationship which challenges not only Eden’s own maturity but the teacher-student boundaries that lie between them.
Absolutely compelling, I found it impossible to put this book down for even a minute. Warwick taps into the teenage mind perfectly and every girl who has fallen in love will recognise the emotions so aptly portrayed in this book. Surprisingly I found that rather than being disturbed by the teacher-student relationship, I actually rooted for the couple, finding that my own predispositions had changed without me even realising until the final chapter. A mark of a great story! Engrossed, I replied to my partner’s enquiry to what I was reading as ‘a naughty novel’, nonetheless, despite the often graphic descriptions of the relationship between the couple, Warwick’s poetic use of language gives the novel an air of definite class. Beautifully written and uniquely challenging, ‘A Season of Eden’ is one of my favourite reads of the year and most highly recommended for teenagers and adults alike.
