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Looking For Eden
The unputdownable new thriller from the bestselling author of The One Who Got Away
When a simple mix-up leaves their father Joe's estate to Eden, their long-absent mother, Clare and Aaron decide it's finally time to track Eden down. But it's been over thirty years since she left their remote outback mining town, and they've never heard from her again.
Aaron is dealing with a new marriage that's currently trapped in immigration limbo, and his teenage daughter Cady is clearly going through a personal crisis of her own. After decades away, Clare has flown home from New York for Joe's funeral, leaving her high-powered job and her not-quite-fiance behind for what she thinks will be a short trip.
Neither Aaron or Clare are prepared for a fight for their inheritance against the mother who abandoned them as children. As they dig through years of secrets and lies in their tiny community to uncover the truth about Eden and Joe, will they notice the more immediate danger that threatens their family?
When a simple mix-up leaves their father Joe's estate to Eden, their long-absent mother, Clare and Aaron decide it's finally time to track Eden down. But it's been over thirty years since she left their remote outback mining town, and they've never heard from her again.
Aaron is dealing with a new marriage that's currently trapped in immigration limbo, and his teenage daughter Cady is clearly going through a personal crisis of her own. After decades away, Clare has flown home from New York for Joe's funeral, leaving her high-powered job and her not-quite-fiance behind for what she thinks will be a short trip.
Neither Aaron or Clare are prepared for a fight for their inheritance against the mother who abandoned them as children. As they dig through years of secrets and lies in their tiny community to uncover the truth about Eden and Joe, will they notice the more immediate danger that threatens their family?
248 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 5, 2024
41 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
About the author
Caroline Overington
30 books574 followersCaroline Overington is an Australian author and journalist.
She has worked for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, and is is currently a staff writer for The Weekend Australian Magazine.
Caroline is a two-time winner of the Walkley Award for Investigative Journalism. She won her first Walkley for a series of articles about a literary fraud, and her second for a series about the AWB oil for food scandal.
She is also a winner of the Sir Keith Murdoch prize for excellence in Journalism; and of the Blake Dawson Prize.
Caroline has published five books. Her first, Only in New York, was about working as a foreign correspondent in Manhattan.
Her second, Kickback, was about the UN oil for food scandal. It won the Blake Dawson Prize for Business Literature.
Her first novel, Ghost Child, is about a child murdered by his parents.
Her second, I Came To Say Goodbye, takes the form of a letter from a grandfather to a Supreme Court judge. It was shortlisted for both the Fiction Book of the Year, and overall Book of the Year, in the 2011 Australian Book Industry Awards.
Her latest novel, published in October 2011, is called Matilda is Missing. It is set in the Family Court, and it is about a couple's war over custody of their two year old daughter, Matilda.
Caroline's books are proudly published by Random House Australia.
Caroline is a mother of delightful, 11-year-old twins. She lives with her kids, her husband, a blue dog, and a lizard, in Bondi.
She has worked for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, and is is currently a staff writer for The Weekend Australian Magazine.
Caroline is a two-time winner of the Walkley Award for Investigative Journalism. She won her first Walkley for a series of articles about a literary fraud, and her second for a series about the AWB oil for food scandal.
She is also a winner of the Sir Keith Murdoch prize for excellence in Journalism; and of the Blake Dawson Prize.
Caroline has published five books. Her first, Only in New York, was about working as a foreign correspondent in Manhattan.
Her second, Kickback, was about the UN oil for food scandal. It won the Blake Dawson Prize for Business Literature.
Her first novel, Ghost Child, is about a child murdered by his parents.
Her second, I Came To Say Goodbye, takes the form of a letter from a grandfather to a Supreme Court judge. It was shortlisted for both the Fiction Book of the Year, and overall Book of the Year, in the 2011 Australian Book Industry Awards.
Her latest novel, published in October 2011, is called Matilda is Missing. It is set in the Family Court, and it is about a couple's war over custody of their two year old daughter, Matilda.
Caroline's books are proudly published by Random House Australia.
Caroline is a mother of delightful, 11-year-old twins. She lives with her kids, her husband, a blue dog, and a lizard, in Bondi.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews
February 15, 2023
3.5★
I really enjoyed this up until the last couple of chapters where - as many, many other reviewers have pointed out - there was a sudden, jarring change of direction. I think if it had been a longer novel, with more room to foreshadow that outcome, it might have sat a little more comfortably. If I ignore it, this would be a solid 4-star read, but as it is I have to rate it down a little. Still a very worthwhile read for the mystery of what happened to Eden, and for the remote, small Western Australian mining town location.
Free on Audible in Feb 2023.
I really enjoyed this up until the last couple of chapters where - as many, many other reviewers have pointed out - there was a sudden, jarring change of direction. I think if it had been a longer novel, with more room to foreshadow that outcome, it might have sat a little more comfortably. If I ignore it, this would be a solid 4-star read, but as it is I have to rate it down a little. Still a very worthwhile read for the mystery of what happened to Eden, and for the remote, small Western Australian mining town location.
Free on Audible in Feb 2023.
May 9, 2025
I have really enjoyed all of Caroline Overington's novels, but this one fell short of my high expectations unfortunately.
The set up is that Clare has flown back to Australia from New York following the death of her father. It is assumed that the family farm will be left to Clare and her brother, however, due to an error, the actual legal Will leaves everything to their mother (the eponymous Eden) who left their father when the children were small. The problem is, nobody knows where Eden is.
I was really enjoying this, and learning more about the various characters, but towards the end the story took a sudden turn, and the ending seemed very rushed.
The three stars are for the length of my enjoyment of most of the book and the excellent narration.
The set up is that Clare has flown back to Australia from New York following the death of her father. It is assumed that the family farm will be left to Clare and her brother, however, due to an error, the actual legal Will leaves everything to their mother (the eponymous Eden) who left their father when the children were small. The problem is, nobody knows where Eden is.
I was really enjoying this, and learning more about the various characters, but towards the end the story took a sudden turn, and the ending seemed very rushed.
The three stars are for the length of my enjoyment of most of the book and the excellent narration.
June 5, 2024
From a promising start with an interesting premise, the plot of Looking For Eden starts to get the death wobbles towards the end until the wheels completely fall off and we experience one of the more disappointing storyline fadeouts.
Clare returns to her remote hometown in Western Australia, a mining town she left years ago, for the funeral of Joe, her grandfather. During the process of cleaning up his house she comes across his will only to find out from her brother that a more recent one was made that nullified this one which leaves everything to their mother, Eden, who walked out on the family many years before. A glitch in the process meant that the new will wasn’t signed and the original was the valid one.
It becomes important that Eden, who hasn’t had contact with the family for decades either be found, or be declared legally dead in order for the inheritance to revert to Clare and her brother. Along the way is an exploration into feelings ranging from anger to despair over their abandonment by their mother and this aspect of the story was quite well done.
Just as we were preparing to dig deeply into the family history and trawl through the skeletons and secrets that may have been uncovered, the whole tone changed as did the focus. It kind of rendered the entire first half of the book largely irrelevant.
So, I’m sitting there thinking, “Okay, instead we’re dealing with a domestic drama and this is going to use all of the great character development that was done earlier to give us something momentous”. But no, not so!. Things were wrapped up extremely quickly after merely touching on a series of pretty important (and relevant) social issues without really adding anything to the plot or making any comment of any real depth. Missed opportunities all over the place.
Really…the first thing out of my mouth when reaching the end shouldn’t be “Huh?”
Clare returns to her remote hometown in Western Australia, a mining town she left years ago, for the funeral of Joe, her grandfather. During the process of cleaning up his house she comes across his will only to find out from her brother that a more recent one was made that nullified this one which leaves everything to their mother, Eden, who walked out on the family many years before. A glitch in the process meant that the new will wasn’t signed and the original was the valid one.
It becomes important that Eden, who hasn’t had contact with the family for decades either be found, or be declared legally dead in order for the inheritance to revert to Clare and her brother. Along the way is an exploration into feelings ranging from anger to despair over their abandonment by their mother and this aspect of the story was quite well done.
Just as we were preparing to dig deeply into the family history and trawl through the skeletons and secrets that may have been uncovered, the whole tone changed as did the focus. It kind of rendered the entire first half of the book largely irrelevant.
So, I’m sitting there thinking, “Okay, instead we’re dealing with a domestic drama and this is going to use all of the great character development that was done earlier to give us something momentous”. But no, not so!. Things were wrapped up extremely quickly after merely touching on a series of pretty important (and relevant) social issues without really adding anything to the plot or making any comment of any real depth. Missed opportunities all over the place.
Really…the first thing out of my mouth when reaching the end shouldn’t be “Huh?”
June 23, 2024
*https://www.instagram.com/mrsb_book_r...
👀First published as an audiobook in early 2023, Looking for Eden has recently been published in paperback form for more readers to enjoy. A story that revolves around a missing mother, a perplexing mystery from the past and a pot of money, Looking for Eden is a fast-flowing domestic thriller.
👀Siblings Clare and Adam have been without their mother for decades. After their father passes away, Clare and Adam are faced with the task of locating the whereabouts of their mother who has inherited the fortune of their father. But the return home for Clare is not without heartache and drama. As Clare struggles to adjust to the changes her father’s death has brought to her life, her brother must also juggle his responsibilities as a father, son and brother. What will the truth bring about Eden’s disappearance all those years ago? Where will Joe’s money end up?
👀I’ve been eyeing off Looking for Eden for some time now. After seeing this title pop up on my Audible app, I was pleased to see the paperback version released in my local bookstore. As a fan of Caroline Overington I was keen to get to this one. I surprised myself by reading this in just one evening sitting. Looking for Eden is a swift, highly readable and interesting tale. The characterisation is solid and the plot is puzzling. The setting which was based primarily in a WA mining town was well depicted. The overall mystery element mostly worked until the almost close, which threw me a little. The conclusion took a diversion. I did feel as though the ending was a little hurried and I perhaps could have done with a bit more.
👀Overall, Looking for Eden is a family mystery tale that can be knocked off fairly easily and quickly.
🌟🌟🌟💫3.5 stars
👀First published as an audiobook in early 2023, Looking for Eden has recently been published in paperback form for more readers to enjoy. A story that revolves around a missing mother, a perplexing mystery from the past and a pot of money, Looking for Eden is a fast-flowing domestic thriller.
👀Siblings Clare and Adam have been without their mother for decades. After their father passes away, Clare and Adam are faced with the task of locating the whereabouts of their mother who has inherited the fortune of their father. But the return home for Clare is not without heartache and drama. As Clare struggles to adjust to the changes her father’s death has brought to her life, her brother must also juggle his responsibilities as a father, son and brother. What will the truth bring about Eden’s disappearance all those years ago? Where will Joe’s money end up?
👀I’ve been eyeing off Looking for Eden for some time now. After seeing this title pop up on my Audible app, I was pleased to see the paperback version released in my local bookstore. As a fan of Caroline Overington I was keen to get to this one. I surprised myself by reading this in just one evening sitting. Looking for Eden is a swift, highly readable and interesting tale. The characterisation is solid and the plot is puzzling. The setting which was based primarily in a WA mining town was well depicted. The overall mystery element mostly worked until the almost close, which threw me a little. The conclusion took a diversion. I did feel as though the ending was a little hurried and I perhaps could have done with a bit more.
👀Overall, Looking for Eden is a family mystery tale that can be knocked off fairly easily and quickly.
🌟🌟🌟💫3.5 stars
March 9, 2023
Imagine this: your in bed with your partner. Things are going good … like really good. They are keeping it interesting and are slowly building up the suspense. It gets to the point where your close to crossing that finish line. You tell them not to stop.
But …
They stop.
In fact they go completely rouge. Your startled and actually quite confused as to why they have decided now is a good time to tell you about a story of their great grandmother who use to own a bakery and that they have randomly remembered the recipe for her scones and she’s now going to leave to make them. 30minutes later they now remember they were actually in the middle of business with you, so they come back … they finish and then say “so was that good”?
This is how the book felt. The plot, the character development … it was all building up to be such a “twist” and it was a really good read ….when actually the twist never really reached its full potential and instead a completely random and tangential story line was woven in.
Reader beware .. I’m pleased this was a free book on audible as I would of been annoyed if I had of paid for it.
But …
They stop.
In fact they go completely rouge. Your startled and actually quite confused as to why they have decided now is a good time to tell you about a story of their great grandmother who use to own a bakery and that they have randomly remembered the recipe for her scones and she’s now going to leave to make them. 30minutes later they now remember they were actually in the middle of business with you, so they come back … they finish and then say “so was that good”?
This is how the book felt. The plot, the character development … it was all building up to be such a “twist” and it was a really good read ….when actually the twist never really reached its full potential and instead a completely random and tangential story line was woven in.
Reader beware .. I’m pleased this was a free book on audible as I would of been annoyed if I had of paid for it.
May 21, 2023
2.50 ⭐️ — Another Audible Exclusive to shoot through, this time by much loved Author Caroline Overington. Another good premise, interesting tropes & the opening scenes are extremely well written. Unfortunately things fall away from there rather briskly despite seemingly being in good hands.
"Looking for Eden" is an ambitious audiobook novel that unfortunately falls short of its potential, hindered by weak execution and a lackluster delivery. While the concept of exploring identity and self-discovery in a futuristic setting is intriguing, the overall experience leaves much to be desired.
The story follows Eden, a protagonist on a quest for self-understanding in a world where technology allows for the manipulation of memories and personal experiences. However, the execution of this premise feels disjointed and confusing. The narrative fails to provide clear explanations and coherent world-building, leaving listeners struggling to grasp the rules and implications of the futuristic setting.
The audiobook's narration also leaves something to be desired. The delivery lacks depth and fails to bring the characters to life in a compelling manner. The voices lack distinction, making it difficult to differentiate between characters, and the overall tone lacks the necessary emotional resonance to fully engage the listener. Perhaps it is the combination or the juxtaposition that was jarring I’m not entirely certain but it was clear for me it just did not work as well as the publisher would’ve been hoping for. Nonetheless — This is a wildly popular audiobook that is certain to be bought hundreds of times a month, I’m just glad I got it for free otherwise I’d probably be a little perturbed given the amount of brilliantly engaging Crime Novels abound us.
Moreover, the pacing of the audiobook is uneven, with stretches of slow development and a lack of momentum. The story often meanders without a clear sense of direction, making it challenging to maintain interest and investment in the plot.
While "Looking for Eden" presents thought-provoking themes, the execution and delivery on Audible do not do justice to the intriguing concept. The lack of clarity in the narrative and world-building, combined with underwhelming narration and uneven pacing, result in a disappointing listening experience. Listeners seeking a well-crafted and immersive exploration of identity and self-discovery may find themselves unsatisfied with this audiobook.
"Looking for Eden" is an ambitious audiobook novel that unfortunately falls short of its potential, hindered by weak execution and a lackluster delivery. While the concept of exploring identity and self-discovery in a futuristic setting is intriguing, the overall experience leaves much to be desired.
The story follows Eden, a protagonist on a quest for self-understanding in a world where technology allows for the manipulation of memories and personal experiences. However, the execution of this premise feels disjointed and confusing. The narrative fails to provide clear explanations and coherent world-building, leaving listeners struggling to grasp the rules and implications of the futuristic setting.
The audiobook's narration also leaves something to be desired. The delivery lacks depth and fails to bring the characters to life in a compelling manner. The voices lack distinction, making it difficult to differentiate between characters, and the overall tone lacks the necessary emotional resonance to fully engage the listener. Perhaps it is the combination or the juxtaposition that was jarring I’m not entirely certain but it was clear for me it just did not work as well as the publisher would’ve been hoping for. Nonetheless — This is a wildly popular audiobook that is certain to be bought hundreds of times a month, I’m just glad I got it for free otherwise I’d probably be a little perturbed given the amount of brilliantly engaging Crime Novels abound us.
Moreover, the pacing of the audiobook is uneven, with stretches of slow development and a lack of momentum. The story often meanders without a clear sense of direction, making it challenging to maintain interest and investment in the plot.
While "Looking for Eden" presents thought-provoking themes, the execution and delivery on Audible do not do justice to the intriguing concept. The lack of clarity in the narrative and world-building, combined with underwhelming narration and uneven pacing, result in a disappointing listening experience. Listeners seeking a well-crafted and immersive exploration of identity and self-discovery may find themselves unsatisfied with this audiobook.
February 9, 2023
Ok, but confused by the abrupt change of theme towards the end. Is it a whodunnit? A family saga? A sexual abuse survival tale? The set up of the mysterious disappearance of Eden is quite well done, but then the actual solving of the puzzle happens quite abruptly and like it’s suddenly taken second place to the sexual abuse story. This made the ending oddly unsatisfying.
For fabulous family saga/murder mystery set in quintessential Australia, give me Jane Harper any day.
For fabulous family saga/murder mystery set in quintessential Australia, give me Jane Harper any day.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 26, 2024
Why the fuck did all the characters keep asking themselves questions and then answering them instead of just saying what it was they needed to say? It was weird and disjointed and annoying.
Did I like the style of writing? Well, no, I did not. Vs I really didn’t like this style of writing at all.
This book was a dumpster fire. Awful writing. Undeveloped and ridiculously stereotypical characters. A plot that didn’t know where it wanted to go and so went nowhere.
The first half of the book is Claire and Aaron moaning about not having a mum and how messed up they were because of it (despite neither of them actually being all that messed up) the second half of the book is… I don’t even know… plot roulette?
Let’s find mum
Looking for mum
Looking for mum
Going off on a tangent Clare and Mac setting up house,
mums forgotten.
Mac’s the main character
Aaron and mac
Look out, left turn into CSA, but it’s over as quickly as it started
Now Katie’s the main character
Everyone lived happily ever after
Book ends, oh shit, quick explanation about what happened to mum/Eden.
The only reason it gets 2 stars instead of 1 is because it was free and really short and didn’t waste too much of my weekend.
Did I like the style of writing? Well, no, I did not. Vs I really didn’t like this style of writing at all.
This book was a dumpster fire. Awful writing. Undeveloped and ridiculously stereotypical characters. A plot that didn’t know where it wanted to go and so went nowhere.
The first half of the book is Claire and Aaron moaning about not having a mum and how messed up they were because of it (despite neither of them actually being all that messed up) the second half of the book is… I don’t even know… plot roulette?
Let’s find mum
Looking for mum
Looking for mum
Going off on a tangent Clare and Mac setting up house,
mums forgotten.
Mac’s the main character
Aaron and mac
Look out, left turn into CSA, but it’s over as quickly as it started
Now Katie’s the main character
Everyone lived happily ever after
Book ends, oh shit, quick explanation about what happened to mum/Eden.
The only reason it gets 2 stars instead of 1 is because it was free and really short and didn’t waste too much of my weekend.
February 11, 2023
3.5 - the wrap up / ending introduced new themes which was frustrating and didn't spend enough time on the main themes which were about finding Eden and the circumstances surrounding her father's death. Otherwise was a great performance and very good story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 19, 2023
It’s not easy finding novels set in Western Australia, especially in rural WA, so I was excited to find that Overington chose an area near the small town of Paraburdoo in the Pilbara region as a setting for LOOKING FOR EDEN. The story focuses on recently bereaved siblings Clare and Aaron, who are trying to sort out their father’s estate. A glitch with their father’s will could see the family farm being left to Clare and Aaron’s mother Eden, a woman who one day decided to pack her bags, board a train and leave her young children behind, never to be seen or spoken of again. Now, confronted with the prospect of having to find their long lost mother in order to sort out the will, the siblings find that there are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding Eden’s disappearance.
I loved the way Overington explores the fallout of a parent’s abandonment on her children, with far reaching effects long into adulthood. Clare freely shares her feelings on how her mother’s leaving has affected her personal life, her career choices and her adult relationships, whilst Aaron has chosen the path of resentment to mask his own hurt. The mystery surrounding Eden’s disappearance got more intriguing as the story went on, and I felt very invested in it at that stage.
Then came the last few chapters, which changed the whole reading experience for me. Instead of tying up loose ends and riding with the tension that had been built by casting the shadow of doubt on Eden’s fate (and a few persons involved), the story took and abrupt turn and morphed into “The Cady Show”. I hadn’t minded Cady’s voice as part of the family drama, but I very much resented that she was allowed to steal the show with a drama all of her own, which frankly did not fit into the narrative and distracted from the crux of the story. I also felt that at this point, the tone changed to patronising, trying to make the reader confront a multitude of today’s issues that again had no relevance to Eden’s story. I felt slightly cheated and found the rushed ending that followed unsatisfactory and disappointing.
*blog* *facebook* *instagram*
I loved the way Overington explores the fallout of a parent’s abandonment on her children, with far reaching effects long into adulthood. Clare freely shares her feelings on how her mother’s leaving has affected her personal life, her career choices and her adult relationships, whilst Aaron has chosen the path of resentment to mask his own hurt. The mystery surrounding Eden’s disappearance got more intriguing as the story went on, and I felt very invested in it at that stage.
Then came the last few chapters, which changed the whole reading experience for me. Instead of tying up loose ends and riding with the tension that had been built by casting the shadow of doubt on Eden’s fate (and a few persons involved), the story took and abrupt turn and morphed into “The Cady Show”. I hadn’t minded Cady’s voice as part of the family drama, but I very much resented that she was allowed to steal the show with a drama all of her own, which frankly did not fit into the narrative and distracted from the crux of the story. I also felt that at this point, the tone changed to patronising, trying to make the reader confront a multitude of today’s issues that again had no relevance to Eden’s story. I felt slightly cheated and found the rushed ending that followed unsatisfactory and disappointing.
*blog* *facebook* *instagram*
September 4, 2023
2.5 stars if you’re really looking for a mind baffle.
Pros: it was an Audible freebie.
Set in remote Western Australia.
I read the whole thing.
Cons: more “he said”, “she said” and “ands” then in a Year 8 English narrative.
The weirdest new angle of an unrelated story I’ve ever read when expecting the twist …which sort of got tacked on in the most peculiar way to justify the original story plot. Confused - me too - I thought I’d skipped part of the download!
Narration.
Overall - if you received it as a free Audible monthly you might want to see for yourself?
Pros: it was an Audible freebie.
Set in remote Western Australia.
I read the whole thing.
Cons: more “he said”, “she said” and “ands” then in a Year 8 English narrative.
The weirdest new angle of an unrelated story I’ve ever read when expecting the twist …which sort of got tacked on in the most peculiar way to justify the original story plot. Confused - me too - I thought I’d skipped part of the download!
Narration.
Overall - if you received it as a free Audible monthly you might want to see for yourself?
June 30, 2025
Ghost Child has been my favorite book by this author. I do enjoy the Australian setting and dialect.
I plan to read more of Overington’s books.
I plan to read more of Overington’s books.
March 4, 2023
I was adoring this mystery, and it flowed so fabulously till it switched course....and the momentum was lost.
As Claire said, there is more than one story in this, but sadly they all cut too quickly and none played out in the depths they started with. Sadly disappointed as it was so promising.
As Claire said, there is more than one story in this, but sadly they all cut too quickly and none played out in the depths they started with. Sadly disappointed as it was so promising.
March 22, 2023
I listened to this book on audible, and the three speakers did a great job narrating this novel. I really enjoyed the story until about 2/3rds of the way in, when a new story line crept in that sidelined the other story lines, and made the wrap of the other story lines appear rushed and their conclusions inadequate. Despite this, the novel was well written and well paced. It drew me in and I listened to the book quickly wanting to know the outcomes. I enjoyed learning more about cultures within small mining towns in remote Australia. There were some dark themes throughout this book (mental health & trauma) but these were covered in a respectful way. Would have given this book 5 stars if it wasn’t for the odd last 1/3rd.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2024
3.5 / 5
Set in (what I understand to be) the fictional WA gold mining town of Korn, Clare returns home after her father's death for what she anticipates to be a short trip. However, a legal mix-up with her father's estate and unanswered questions about her mother's disappearance almost 40 years earlier leads Clare to stick around and uncover the mystery.
While you might think this story is going one way, and you're eagerly awaiting answers about Clare's Mother's disappearance, this book instead is a whirlwind of intrigue and suspense with an entirely unexpected ending.
I will admit, I was a little disappointed by the very sudden change of direction. But overall, I just wanted to keep reading up until the end.
Thank you to @harpercollinsaustralia for sending me a copy of this book to review.
Set in (what I understand to be) the fictional WA gold mining town of Korn, Clare returns home after her father's death for what she anticipates to be a short trip. However, a legal mix-up with her father's estate and unanswered questions about her mother's disappearance almost 40 years earlier leads Clare to stick around and uncover the mystery.
While you might think this story is going one way, and you're eagerly awaiting answers about Clare's Mother's disappearance, this book instead is a whirlwind of intrigue and suspense with an entirely unexpected ending.
I will admit, I was a little disappointed by the very sudden change of direction. But overall, I just wanted to keep reading up until the end.
Thank you to @harpercollinsaustralia for sending me a copy of this book to review.
February 15, 2023
When a father dies in tragic circumstances the family gets together to discuss the matter of the will and a mother who hasn’t been seen in 35 years.
Was the death suspicious? Will they find their missing mother? The book seems to wander a little bit and turns into a different type of book and solves questions you didn’t really had, ignoring the ones it set up at the start.
Maybe if it was a little longer the ending wouldn’t be so jarring.
Was the death suspicious? Will they find their missing mother? The book seems to wander a little bit and turns into a different type of book and solves questions you didn’t really had, ignoring the ones it set up at the start.
Maybe if it was a little longer the ending wouldn’t be so jarring.
April 21, 2023
2.5 stars because the first half was engaging. Completely fell apart in the second half. Characters lacked depth and weren't particularly likeable. Pacing was weird and extra storylines that I didn't care about were randomly introduced then quickly wrapped up. The whole premise was about finding out what happened to Eden but that storyline seemed like a rushed afterthought at the very end. Book had promise but poor execution.
May 14, 2025
had to DNF this book after 100 pages.
The writing style was incredibly amateur, I kept expecting y/n to be sold to 1D.
Character voices were flat, non-distinctive and no one character was particularly likeable or memorable.
I've read better fan fiction than this, don't waste your time
The writing style was incredibly amateur, I kept expecting y/n to be sold to 1D.
Character voices were flat, non-distinctive and no one character was particularly likeable or memorable.
I've read better fan fiction than this, don't waste your time
November 26, 2024
Recommend reading - thought provoking story
August 15, 2025
Great read, I will definitely look for more of her books. Lots of twists and turns! Definitely a ‘Goodread’!
June 2, 2025
3.5
The end was a completely different book
The end was a completely different book
February 11, 2023
Looking for Eden by Caroline overington. looking at this book it would not if been one that called to me. but this I actually liked. the final conclusion was Kind of heartbreaking but the stories along the way were awesome to get to where the people ended up at the end of the book. there really isn't any romance or love story to this, more just a story about a woman that needed to know the truth
October 30, 2025
Didn’t think it lived up to the synopsis. I felt it took us away from what I thought this book was about. Not my favourite by this author
February 15, 2023
I enjoyed this book. It was the story or a woman returning to the town she grew up in when her father dies. It follows her looking for answers after her mother's disappearance over 30 years ago. It's also a bit of a self discovery story. An easy read.
February 26, 2023
This is lazy writing every thing about the setting is wrong , the whole thing read as if it was set in a close knit suburb . Here are some of the flaws for a town 300 ks from parabadoo ( which is not 400 k from perth try 1000) small towns north of para would not have a lawyer, would not have Turkish restaurant, no one would be on a dating app, definitely no one would have a Porsche and the list goes on . The story which was supposed be about Eden fizzled , I think I need to review my rating down
February 28, 2023
This was so well read by all the voices in this story. The voice can make or break a good audiobook. I enjoyed the Australian context and expect this to be made into a movie one day...
October 1, 2024
A missing mother is ostensibly the story at the heart of this book. Clare and Aaron’s mother, Eden, disappears when they are both young children. When their father dies, decades later, uncertainty over the family inheritance arises and triggers a search for the absent mother.
Looking for Eden’s chapters alternate between the first-person voices of Clare and Aaron, and that of Aaron’s teenage daughter Cady. The narrative tone is conversational, as if the three of them are chatting directly with the reader. (There is another major character in the book but he is not given his own voice. The readers’ perceptions of him are filtered through Clare, Aaron and Cady.)
Set in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Overington paints a picture of life in a remote mining town where most people know each other and, if they don’t, gossip will fill in the gaps. Rumours about Eden’s disappearance have long circulated.
Having enjoyed some of Overington’s previous fiction, I was disappointed in this novel. The main narrative thrust changes direction in the final chapters. It was as though the story hadn’t reached its required page length so a new thread was added to pad it out.
To be fair, Overington does give her readers a ‘heads up’ in the opening lines (spoken by Clare): ‘The story I’m about to tell, it’s not one story. There are two, maybe even three, stories here. But only one is mine to tell.’
A further disappointment was the inadequate editing and proofreading. There are instances of timeline inconsistencies, plotting confusion, repeated information and lax fact-checking. None of this helps the reading experience.
Looking for Eden’s chapters alternate between the first-person voices of Clare and Aaron, and that of Aaron’s teenage daughter Cady. The narrative tone is conversational, as if the three of them are chatting directly with the reader. (There is another major character in the book but he is not given his own voice. The readers’ perceptions of him are filtered through Clare, Aaron and Cady.)
Set in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Overington paints a picture of life in a remote mining town where most people know each other and, if they don’t, gossip will fill in the gaps. Rumours about Eden’s disappearance have long circulated.
Having enjoyed some of Overington’s previous fiction, I was disappointed in this novel. The main narrative thrust changes direction in the final chapters. It was as though the story hadn’t reached its required page length so a new thread was added to pad it out.
To be fair, Overington does give her readers a ‘heads up’ in the opening lines (spoken by Clare): ‘The story I’m about to tell, it’s not one story. There are two, maybe even three, stories here. But only one is mine to tell.’
A further disappointment was the inadequate editing and proofreading. There are instances of timeline inconsistencies, plotting confusion, repeated information and lax fact-checking. None of this helps the reading experience.
September 4, 2024
I'm usually such a fan of Caroline's work but this one really missed the mark for me.
The writing felt lazy with alot of the action was brushed over and it just failed to leave its mark.
While I'm grateful this book wasn't any longer, it really could have been padded out with more in-depth characterisation.
Has Caroline even met a teenager? Cady's chapters where painful.
The ending felt abrupt, rushed and incredibly unsatisfying.
While the premise of the book was interesting, I can't help but wonder what someone like Craig Silvey could have done with it. This could have been an incredibly lyrical and beautiful story that punches you right in the guts, but it just wasn't.
This book left me wanting so much more than what it gave.
The writing felt lazy with alot of the action was brushed over and it just failed to leave its mark.
While I'm grateful this book wasn't any longer, it really could have been padded out with more in-depth characterisation.
Has Caroline even met a teenager? Cady's chapters where painful.
The ending felt abrupt, rushed and incredibly unsatisfying.
While the premise of the book was interesting, I can't help but wonder what someone like Craig Silvey could have done with it. This could have been an incredibly lyrical and beautiful story that punches you right in the guts, but it just wasn't.
This book left me wanting so much more than what it gave.
July 17, 2024
It was like somebody else wrote it. Her books are some of my favourite. This was too many plots with no depth in any. I’m sad writing this
June 10, 2023
Jury's out on this one - I've rounded up to a 3 because Goodreads doesn't allow a 2.5, but I'm very middle of the road on this one.
The author either hasn't done her research properly or is geographically challenged because Paraburdoo is about 1500km from Perth (not the 700km claimed in the book), the area in the Pilbara is nothing like the the location in the book describes and the only town within that kind of driving distance from Paraburdoo is much smaller than the fictional the town described in the book. I would say it's a more accurately describes a town in the Goldfields area.
What it does do well, however, is show a new aspect to some of the parts of mining life, which I did find interesting.
I won't go through the storyline because it's pretty much all in the blurb for the book anyway, but it wasn't a bad read - just not a good one either. It was a free read from Audible and my first thought at the end of it was "I'm glad I wasn't paying for that".
It's a slow start with a steady building of suspense but then a very rushed and 'higgeldy piggeldy' ending. The main problem with the book is that there was just too much going on for what is essentially a Novella size offering.
It had the potential to be something bigger and better but there were just too many competing storylines in too small a framework. As a result, it felt like the author got to about 75% of the way through with a slow burn type of story-building and then the author realised they only had a short number of pages left to tie everything up so rushed to bring it all to the conclusions she was aiming for.
In addition to Eden's story, there was Clare's story, and Aaron's story and Cady's story and they all deserved the space to be fleshed out and developed properly. Personally, I hope the author revisits this somewhere down the track and turns it into the book it should have been.
I listened to the Audible Audio version of this book and found the narrator suited to the story.
Am I glad I read it - meh
Was it a waste of my time - not a waste per se, but I could have been reading something else
Would I sit down and read it all over again - not in its current form
Would I read more by this author based on this book - I'd be interested to see what she has to offer in a full-length novel.
The author either hasn't done her research properly or is geographically challenged because Paraburdoo is about 1500km from Perth (not the 700km claimed in the book), the area in the Pilbara is nothing like the the location in the book describes and the only town within that kind of driving distance from Paraburdoo is much smaller than the fictional the town described in the book. I would say it's a more accurately describes a town in the Goldfields area.
What it does do well, however, is show a new aspect to some of the parts of mining life, which I did find interesting.
I won't go through the storyline because it's pretty much all in the blurb for the book anyway, but it wasn't a bad read - just not a good one either. It was a free read from Audible and my first thought at the end of it was "I'm glad I wasn't paying for that".
It's a slow start with a steady building of suspense but then a very rushed and 'higgeldy piggeldy' ending. The main problem with the book is that there was just too much going on for what is essentially a Novella size offering.
It had the potential to be something bigger and better but there were just too many competing storylines in too small a framework. As a result, it felt like the author got to about 75% of the way through with a slow burn type of story-building and then the author realised they only had a short number of pages left to tie everything up so rushed to bring it all to the conclusions she was aiming for.
In addition to Eden's story, there was Clare's story, and Aaron's story and Cady's story and they all deserved the space to be fleshed out and developed properly. Personally, I hope the author revisits this somewhere down the track and turns it into the book it should have been.
I listened to the Audible Audio version of this book and found the narrator suited to the story.
Am I glad I read it - meh
Was it a waste of my time - not a waste per se, but I could have been reading something else
Would I sit down and read it all over again - not in its current form
Would I read more by this author based on this book - I'd be interested to see what she has to offer in a full-length novel.
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