Havah: The Story of Eve

The challenge in writing about a story in which the reader already knows, or thinks they know , the characters, events and ultimate outcome, is how to make it fresh, inspiring and unexpected without compromising the themes and principles at the core of the story. How does the writer avoid popular perceptions, traditions and clichés to create a work in which the characters live, breathe, and interact with uncompromising realism on each page? Aspiring authors of Biblical and Historical Fiction could take a few pointers from author Tosca Lee who has successfully accomplished all this and more in her novel Havah: The Story of Eve. Havah, (the Hebrew name for Eve) finally gives the first woman her own voice and takes the reader through her amazing journey.

“I have seen paradise and ruin. I have known bliss and terror. I have walked with God.” From the very first lines of the book, the reader is drawn in. Lee presents the Garden in visually poetic prose, where all living things commune with one another in complete harmony. It is the setting for the first human love story and Tosca Lee’s portrayal of Adam and Eve’s discovery of their world and each other is hauntingly beautiful and evocative. In the Garden they are just as passionate about their blissful world as they are about each other and their intimacy with one another and the world that is purely theirs is so profound that they can communicate without words—knowing the thoughts, emotions and desires of the other. But perhaps the most enduring element of Eve’s story is her relationship with God. Referred to as “the One”, Lee presents a woman who truly knows God for herself. More than knowing the ‘God of Adam’, Eve is a woman, who walks, laughs, even runs with the Creator. She hears His voice, feels His presence and searches for Him with a tangible longing.

The temptation, fall, exile, and subsequent struggle for survival are both breathtaking and heartbreaking as Adam and Eve navigate a world unknown to them. From marriage to childbirth, from raising a family, to dealing with murder and death, Havah tackles all the tough questions and excellently portrays Eve as ‘every woman’. Through Eve’s eyes we see her very relatable relationship struggles with Adam and through Eve’s joy and heartbreak we embark on a journey into motherhood. Eve's profound pain and disappointment with the murder of her second son by the hands of her firstborn son is acutely felt and compassionately portrayed. Most sharply and frustratingly felt is Eve’s constant attempts at regaining the life she once had in the Garden and her deep sense of regret at the realization that it is forever gone.