THIS IS EDEN?

A woman struggles to make a good life for her family in a Wisconsin wilderness in Radcliffe’s debut historical novel.

In 1913, Hattie Burley, her milkman husband John, and their six kids live in a Chicago tenement. John learns there are 40 acres of pine-filled land for sale in Wisconsin called “The Garden of Eden” and believes that God is telling him to move his family there and become a preacher. John sends Hattie and the children out to Wisconsin ahead of him, but when they arrive there, the land is not what Hattie expects. Life in Wisconsin proves difficult, with few resources and little infrastructure, but they make do, in part, by getting to know their neighbors. Hattie tries to become part of the community and develops a keen interest in politics, especially the issue of women’s suffrage. The family survives some harsh winters, but the children—especially the youngest, Elizabeth—frequently get sick. Radcliffe’s novel offers readers more of a slice of life of the Wisconsin frontier than a solid narrative arc, as Hattie struggles to support her family while her husband works in the city to pay off their mortgage. The longer he remains in Chicago, the more distance and strife enters their relationship, until it reaches a crisis point. Eventually, Hattie begins to wonder if God is telling her to leave her new home. Over the course of this novel, Radcliffe presents readers with a well-researched tale that offers ample historical detail regarding everyday aspects of urban and rural life in the early 1900s. As the story goes on, though, family members seem headed in different directions and Hattie finds herself at an emotional crossroads. Indeed, it all ends on an oddly ambiguous note, and some readers may find its lack of resolution unsatisfying.

A well-sketched tale of a family pursuing their dreams, but one that feels unfinished.

- Kirkus Reviews

A Christian family from Chicago moves to rural Wisconsin in Nancy Radcliffe’s brisk historical novel This is Eden?, a story about homesteading and resilience.

In 1913, Hattie, the mother of six, is married to John, a dairy driver who aspires to become a preacher. When John buys forty acres in Wisconsin and dubs the plot the Garden of Eden, Hattie is sent ahead of him to prepare the land with their children. Once Hattie arrives, though, she learns that their new log cabin home is far from finished. Armed with encouraging Bible verses, she nonetheless begins forging a home in the wild.

A steadfast woman who guides her family well, Hattie is characterized most in terms of her everyday industry. Her more personal thoughts are constricted to general misgivings and faithful notions of provision. The result is an archetype of an obedient spouse who embodies a dry bygone ethos: rugged necessity leaves her little room for sincere emotional responses. Her story becomes a distant, matter-of-fact one—more consumed by reportage regarding the family’s work than it is an engaging narrative on its own. In the meantime, absent John is rendered a stark background figure whose actual influence is abstract.

The book’s chapters are as efficient as Hattie: topical and devoted to detailing the family’s steps toward settlement. At first, Hattie and her children are overwhelmed by the tasks ahead, but then they receive help from their neighbors—a sometimes warm, sometimes skeptical secondary cast whose members are unsure about the newcomers from the city. Once the family settles in, they work to cope with the fresh challenges presented by their pine-laden acreage.

The book captures the period well, with details about the family’s chores and interpersonal dynamics. Hattie’s older children are called upon to help her: one son labors at a saw mill in exchange for shingles, and one daughter watches over her younger siblings. From chinking spaces between logs to establishing a garden and canning food, their overlapping concerns are shared in lucid terms.

Still, the family’s goals are clear and predictable, resulting in a story that contains few surprises. Even once the cabin is completed, there is little time for joy: the seasons march on, each bringing additional tasks. Whether she’s knitting in anticipation of harsh winters or tending to illnesses, Hattie is an unwavering figure, despite her loneliness. An abrupt development late in the story pushes the book toward an unsatisfying conclusion that undoes much of what came before it.

This is Eden? is a careful historical novel in which a woman calls upon her pioneering spirit, and her faith, to make a new home for her family.

- Clarion Review

In this short historical novel, based on the life of the author’s grandmother, Hattie Burley, a mother of six, faces major challenges as she attempts to build a new life for her family in the wilds of Wisconsin.

John Burley, a Chicago dairy worker, has ambitions of becoming a pastor and farming the land in Wisconsin. He buys land and persuades his wife to travel ahead of him, with their children, and establish the family while he sends money and supplies. Hattie is resourceful and determined—and she needs to be. Her land is covered in tree stumps, and the family’s log cabin has no shingles on the roof and wide gaps in its log walls.

As Hattie and her children adapt to their new environment, the challenges of settling new land are vividly detailed. From building an outhouse to canning and pickling food for winter, the family pulls together in sickness and in health, but depends on parcels from John in Chicago. And as the seasons and years pass, Hattie’s husband shows no sign of moving to Wisconsin.

A key strength of this story is its meticulous attention to detail. Scraps of fabric are stuffed into chinks in the wall, and floors are lined with the Chicago Tribune newspaper under the rugs to try and keep the family warm over winter. Hattie forages for morel mushrooms and edible greens and tends to the inevitable sickness and accidents that affect her children, including rheumatic fever, a gunshot wound, and rotting teeth.

However, the story feels less like a novel than a relatively simple accounting of actual events. It’s driven by exposition and is light on characterization and dialogue. Readers looking for a believable and engaging representation of a settler’s life in the early 20th century will be well served by this clear, well-written account.

Overall, the book is recommended to those with an interest in social history and life in the mid-West.

- BlueInk Review

"She got up from the stump and slowly walked toward the gaping door of her new home. 'Lean not on your own understanding.'"

A feisty wife proves her mettle by moving to virgin land in Wisconsin from Chicago in 1913. Hattie, the serious one compared to her carefree husband, John, agrees to his proposal to move from a dirty, cramped tenement for the sake of her sick kids to land the railroad is selling. John sends Hattie and their six children ahead and plans to join them after completing Bible college. Hattie and family finish the half-completed cabin, put in a garden, and put down roots, anticipating John's arrival.

The linear chronology sets a relentless pace forward. Hattie has little choice but determination, taking care of a brood and a do-gooder husband who brings home "strays." In addition to keeping home, she makes clothes for extra income. Routine writing, with certain phrases repeated, makes the daily grind palpable. In a refreshing and realistic portrayal, images of the lush landscape—from Hattie's garden to the forests, as well as neighborliness—show the family's dependence on the land and the necessity of natural cycles. But moments of excitement, like a fire, a bear sighting, and near-death accidents and illness balance out general descriptions of normal household happenings. Hattie's spitty commands to her family also spice up the text. Some of the kids contracting the Spanish flu, news of WWI, and Hattie advocating for women's suffrage show the family's part played in the era's drama.

Hattie's adherence to her work ethic and perseverance as she confronts her husband's wanton behavior and her kids' coming of age inspires. She is a true heroine, shown steering them away from drinking and smoking and toward steady jobs as they grow up. She serves her family, as well as the story, with her unwavering, faithful attitude. One family's matriarchal legacy becomes a story that any family can be proud of.

- The US Review of Books

In Nancy Radcliffe’s debut historical novel “This Is Eden?” a mother and her six children move from Chicago and are forced to carve their way in the wilds of Wisconsin in the early 20th century. Here a principled, no-nonsense woman demonstrates her ability to face the challenges for her family’s survival with strength, resourcefulness, and her own Godly will of determination.

Hattie Burley has concerns about living in the top flat of what she considers a firetrap on the unseemly side of Chicago. But she is none too happy to learn her husband John has signed papers to purchase 40 acres of land in Wisconsin. He plans to stay behind and work to pay off the property, go to school, then find a church sponsor allowing him to preach the Word. Meanwhile Hattie and the children, ages 2 thru 16, are sent ahead to establish their new home. Radcliffe’s narrative quickly showcases Hattie’s concerns for their future. Upon arrival at their problematic destination, she sees the land stripped of its trees, only a partially constructed house, no heat or water, and a seemingly insurmountable task ahead, of trying to create a home.

From getting stored items to their new location, taking up temporary sleeping quarters in a sheep shed, chinking logs from morning ’til night, planting a garden and preserving its produce, Hattie works continuously and instills the same work ethic in her children. While John sends intermittent correspondence and supplies, the eldest son works in a local mill, and later a logging camp to help bring in extra money. The eldest daughter watches the young ones not yet in school, and the other boys hunt, fish, dig out a root cellar, and cut wood for the long, frigid winters.

Hattie realizes John’s carefree ways and her own “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop” mentality complement one another, but she soon tires of building a life without him. As expected, Ratcliffe weaves the tensions of the changing climate throughout the story. Seasonal passages ignite the wrath of floods, drought, and fire, while winter’s harshness brings illness and casualty. Social gatherings with friends and neighbors, and the music from a Victrola provide a sweet, simple diversion.

There are constant delays to John’s joining his wife and children. Then an unexpected letter sends Hattie on an emotional roller coaster ride. Here themes of love, family, and reaching out for help give characters the opportunity to maintain control in a precarious situation. The results bring into play a timely, modern-day arrangement as three generations live within modest accommodations and rise to the occasion. As expected, assistance from friends and neighbors proves a welcome reprieve.

While many fictional works have been written about pioneering families making their way to new territories, Radcliffe’s writing is special in that This Is Eden? is based on her own grandmother’s true experience of venturing into the lowlands of Wisconsin more than 100 years ago. To this day the land remains in the family. Though this is a memoir of sorts that relates Radcliffe’s personal ancestry, ideally for other readers it shines a universal light on the strength and fortitude of women put to the test.

- Pacific Book Review