I, Eve

Eve, the first woman, is pretty bitter about that fool of a man, Adam, and his carrying-on with sneaky Lilith, and about that monster Cain, who is a nasty, cruel little boy and very different from his sweet brother Abel, who does not bite the nipple that feeds him. But Eve truly loves the child of her old age, Seth, the first artist. The life of this first family is like most that have come after it: a mixture of love, resentment, selfishness, boredom and happiness. Until now we have known Eve's story as it has been handed down by the myth-makers. Yet this late-in-the-day tale, full of poetic and literary allusion, human foibles and wit, rings true. Le Comte (He and She) proves himself a virtuoso at conveying Eve's wry, weary voice; she has lived a lifetime that we can recognize in contemporary terms. This is not the thick tome that pushes the others off the bestseller lists. Instead, it is a slender volume that many will cherish and reach for to read a chapter or two out loud again and again. (August)