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A review by rmarcin
This Other Eden by Paul Harding
3.0
Based on actual events, this story is about a multi-racial community that is changed when outsiders come in and try to impose their ideas and ideals on the community.
Apple Island is based on Malaga Island, off the coast of Maine, which was one of the first racially integrated towns in the northeastern US.
Benjamin Honey, a former slave, and his wife, who is from Ireland, come to the island to live together without fear of prejudice and persecution. Years later, their descendants are living on the island. In 1912, a schoolteacher, Matthew Diamond, comes to the island. He finds that the children are remarkably knowledgable, for ex. some are fluent in Latin, others are experts in other subjects. People on the mainland decide they need to evacuate the island.
It is a sad account of what happens when people decide their way is better, just because they don't. understand another's culture.
Apple Island is based on Malaga Island, off the coast of Maine, which was one of the first racially integrated towns in the northeastern US.
Benjamin Honey, a former slave, and his wife, who is from Ireland, come to the island to live together without fear of prejudice and persecution. Years later, their descendants are living on the island. In 1912, a schoolteacher, Matthew Diamond, comes to the island. He finds that the children are remarkably knowledgable, for ex. some are fluent in Latin, others are experts in other subjects. People on the mainland decide they need to evacuate the island.
It is a sad account of what happens when people decide their way is better, just because they don't. understand another's culture.