If you enjoy Biblical Fiction, Daughter of Eden by Jill Eileen Smith is a must read. It is probably the most doctrinal and theologically accurate Biblical Fiction novel I have ever read… (I grew up studying a lot in Genesis, so I feel like I have a decent handle on the things folks can split hairs over. LOL.) Most importantly, how Adam and Eve and their descendants were portrayed was so beautiful and so relatable. The life that they lived as the first humans on the earth was not exempt from many of the sorrows and fears we still have today and that made this book a five star read for me.

1. There was a lot of Scripture used in this novel. It’s evident that the author studied a ton to make this story happen. The way Scripture was used – and not just verses from Genesis but the whole Old Testament – was beautifully done. And that doesn’t just happen by a casual reading of God’s Word. Excellently executed.
2. The creative process in the story was also well done. The author used the Scripture and historical evidence to drive the story line and it was phenomenal. There was not one part of this novel that left me thinking, “Well, that was obviously just creative license.” Though there is obviously a lot the author had to fill in for us, all of it was believable. I really felt like I was walking through this period of history with Eve and her family in the most realistic way possible. If you’ve been to the Creation Museum or the Ark Encounter and loved it – you will love this book!
3. But it wasn’t just the building of civilizations and Adam and Eve’s learning of farming, pottery and animal husbandry that made this book so believable…it was also the relationships within the first family and how they struggled with sin and the fallen world that they had to learn to live in. This novel related how the first family probably struggled with the same questions we have about God and life. Though their lifespans were much longer than ours today, they had to deal with grief when Able was murdered. They had to deal with children who walked away from God like Cain did. They went through all those things and the way this author crafted that made these people real to me.

I can’t express how much I recommend this book. It’s a masterpiece! Not only did I feel transported to an ancient world in a believable way, I learned so much about myself through this story. There are so many lines I could quote that made me realize things about my own life. There is so much of God’s truth and the gospel woven in this novel and because of that, I know it will be a blessing to all who read it. Highly, highly recommended!