My Name Was Eden - by Eleanor Barker-White

Book Synopsis

For fans of The Push and The Undoing, an edge-of-your-seat thriller that peels back the layers of a family that's not as perfect as it seems.

"My Name Was Eden is a compulsive, didn't-see-it-coming thriller."--Abigail Dean, international bestselling author of Girl A

One twin vanished. The other twin remained. Until now...

No one knows why Lucy's 14-year-old daughter Eden almost drowned in the lake after school one day. But now she's safe and well. Lucy can start being a good mother. The mother she should have been all these years--years that were fraught with grief over the loss of Eden's twin during pregnancy.

Yes, all that matters is Eden is fine.

But then Eden starts saying Eden isn't her name. Her name is Eli. The name Lucy had reserved for Eden's unborn twin.

Don't worry, says the doctor. Eden is completely fine, says her husband. Of course I'm fine, Eden says, with that strange new smile of hers. I didn't die. I'm here.

But Lucy knows something's very wrong with Eden. She's not her maddening, complicated teenage girl anymore--this straight-backed, even tempered, steady-eyed child in her house is someone else entirely. Eden, it seems, is the twin who disappeared...

Review Quotes

"My Name Was Eden is a compulsive, didn't-see-it-coming thriller--and a tender take on parenting, isolation, and intergenerational trauma. Barker-White creates the kind of claustrophobic dread you only find in the unhappiest of families, right to the final, sucker punch few pages." -- Abigail Dean, international bestselling author of Girl A

"In this captivating and highly original novel of psychological suspense, Eleanor Barker-White takes the reader on a journey into the heart of maternal grief and intergenerational trauma. My Name Was Eden is a fantastic debut--unpredictable, tense, and absorbing." -- Rose Carlyle, #1 international bestselling author of The Girl in the Mirror

"This strong debut successfully explores intergenerational trauma in a twisty thriller with enough notes of horror to require reading with all the lights on. For fans of Zoje Stage and Lucinda Berry." -- Library Journal

?"This debut thriller delivered. It had me questioning which narrator to trust while figuring out which character wrote the menacing prologue." -- Reader's Digest

"This darkly atmospheric thriller in the vein of Nicola Marsh's The Scandal (2020), Helen Klein Ross' What Was Mine (2016), and Nicole Baart's Little Broken Things (2017) puts a family's long-held secrets in jeopardy under mysterious circumstances.... Exploring the shared burdens of grief, recovery, and misplaced loyalties, My Name Was Eden is a compelling debut." -- Booklist

"Gorgeously written and brimming with spine-tingling tension, My Name Was Eden hooked me from the first page. This is not just a first-rate thriller but also a fascinating dive into questions of identity, perception, and who we choose to hold dear, be they living or dead. Barker-White is a major new voice in psychological thrillers." -- Mindy Mejia, bestselling author of Everything You Want Me to Be and To Catch a Storm

"My Name Was Eden takes a deep dive into parental guilt, the messy emotions of love and mourning, and it's also genuinely creepy and uncomfortable with a unique premise. Clever writing and insightful observations make this a great read." -- Helen Fields, bestselling author of Perfect Remains and The Institution

"Shifting fluidly between family drama and thriller, My Name Was Eden is a haunting exploration of motherhood at its most tested. Tragic and unnerving in equal measure, Barker-White's debut had me gripped from its heart-breaking opening chapter through to its shocking end. Brilliant!" -- Amy Beashel, author of Spilt Milk

"Spellbinding, captivating, and entirely unique. I flew through this book, second guessing my every suspicion along the way. A brilliant story of psychological suspense, motherhood, and friendship." -- Nora Murphy, author of The Favor and The New Mother

"Eleanor's characters had me at the edge of my seat. I became submerged in the murky world so beautifully depicted. A story of memories, longing and of heartbreak. Stunning debut." -- Kelechi Okafor, author of Edge of Here

"I really, really enjoyed this book. It's dark and creepy but still manages to stay realistic and within the confines of domestic noir. Nightmarish, but in the most compelling way. A proper page turner." -- Katy Brent, bestselling author of How to Kill Men and Get Away with It

"Complex, dark, utterly gripping. Barker-White compellingly peels back the layers of family life revealing the diseased heart at its core. Had me reading far too late into the night." -- Tammy Cohen, author of The Wedding Party