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Bitter Eden
PETER BEREAN - Across the raging landscape of a countryside in flames, he rode with the brave, reckless men who cried out for freedom and dignity.
CALLIE DAWSON - Scorched by unspeakable shame, she was a hauntingly beautiful child-woman who no longer believed in love...until she met Peter's strong, tender gaze and saw there a rapturous vision of eternity....
Cruelly separated by treacherous betrayal, from that moment on they were bound by an unforgettable promise stronger than his stormy passions, wilder than her deperate dreams...destined to learn the deepest secrets of the human heart...fated to taste the rich, forbidden fruit of a Bitter Eden.
CALLIE DAWSON - Scorched by unspeakable shame, she was a hauntingly beautiful child-woman who no longer believed in love...until she met Peter's strong, tender gaze and saw there a rapturous vision of eternity....
Cruelly separated by treacherous betrayal, from that moment on they were bound by an unforgettable promise stronger than his stormy passions, wilder than her deperate dreams...destined to learn the deepest secrets of the human heart...fated to taste the rich, forbidden fruit of a Bitter Eden.
672 pages, Paperback
First published November 21, 1979
3 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Salvato
11 books4 followersThis author also wrote under the pseudonym Day Taylor
Sharon “Sherry” Anne Zettler Salvato
Sherry was born and raised in Columbus, where she attended St. Mary of the Springs High School. She was a woman of faith and a life-long member of the Catholic Church.
Sherry went on to study art and education at the University of Cincinnati, where she became the first woman certified to teach Russian in the state of Ohio. There, she met Guido “Guy” Salvato (GlenCove, NY) who she was married to from 1961 until 1979. They raised four sons together in Bexley, Ohio.
There, she began her career as an author and published her first novel in 1974. By 1990, she had published 13 nationally recognized historical fiction novels, including Bitter Eden and The Black Swan.She also wrote under the pen names Day Taylor and Alice Raymond (a collaboration with her son Greg). Her novels are still being enjoyed today, and she was always delighted to meet a fan of her work.
She moved to Powell in 1984, and to her final home in Johnstown in 1995 where she lived on and tended the “Bramble Bush” berry farm for several years. She grew blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries for customers to pick themselves summer after summer.
Some of her other loves were Ohio State football, Massey’s pizza, black licorice, odd finds and adventures, gardening, CSPAN, Northern Ireland, the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. She took special care of her family, dear friends, and those in need who crossed her path. Her family was her treasure, and she will always be deeply loved by many.
Sharon “Sherry” Anne Zettler Salvato
Sherry was born and raised in Columbus, where she attended St. Mary of the Springs High School. She was a woman of faith and a life-long member of the Catholic Church.
Sherry went on to study art and education at the University of Cincinnati, where she became the first woman certified to teach Russian in the state of Ohio. There, she met Guido “Guy” Salvato (GlenCove, NY) who she was married to from 1961 until 1979. They raised four sons together in Bexley, Ohio.
There, she began her career as an author and published her first novel in 1974. By 1990, she had published 13 nationally recognized historical fiction novels, including Bitter Eden and The Black Swan.She also wrote under the pen names Day Taylor and Alice Raymond (a collaboration with her son Greg). Her novels are still being enjoyed today, and she was always delighted to meet a fan of her work.
She moved to Powell in 1984, and to her final home in Johnstown in 1995 where she lived on and tended the “Bramble Bush” berry farm for several years. She grew blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries for customers to pick themselves summer after summer.
Some of her other loves were Ohio State football, Massey’s pizza, black licorice, odd finds and adventures, gardening, CSPAN, Northern Ireland, the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. She took special care of her family, dear friends, and those in need who crossed her path. Her family was her treasure, and she will always be deeply loved by many.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 7, 2019
After having this book sitting around for so long that the pages are turning yellow, (in which case Id have to sit right under the lamp to read it)
I decided it was time to give it a go.
Well this book totally took me by surprise as in I wasn't expecting what I assumed it would be judging by the cover.
This time it got me in a good...and not so good way.
First off,the cover is very misleading as to what the story/romance/characters are about.
It was very well written..hence I give it the 4 stars for that alone ,but it was more of a historical fiction with very little romance between those two on the front of this beautiful cover.
And without giving away the story there were lots of other unexpected twists & turns and tragic events that also lead to a very unsatisfied and sad ending for this romance reader.
I decided it was time to give it a go.
Well this book totally took me by surprise as in I wasn't expecting what I assumed it would be judging by the cover.
This time it got me in a good...and not so good way.
First off,the cover is very misleading as to what the story/romance/characters are about.
It was very well written..hence I give it the 4 stars for that alone ,but it was more of a historical fiction with very little romance between those two on the front of this beautiful cover.
And without giving away the story there were lots of other unexpected twists & turns and tragic events that also lead to a very unsatisfied and sad ending for this romance reader.
May 24, 2012
This book could have been a five for me, if only there was more of a romance between the two main characters. The cover is beautiful, but misleading. IMHO, I feel it wasn't so much a romance as it was women's historical fiction. It is very well written, but the story was too tragic. I was left unsatisfied with the ending, as there was no real HEA.
February 7, 2019
It was a great story but could've been wrapped up in 500 pages max. There were scenes that were unecessarily extra long. But overall the storyline was fantastic & hero and heroine were a superb match.
October 23, 2025
Talk about a WTF book!!! It started out good, I thought it would be a great family saga, but about halfway through it started sliding into the mud and got stuck there, a few bright spots but back to the muck again!
For some reason, the author decided to take the Berean family and systematically tear it to shreds! It's like she got a perverse pleasure from making the characters miserable, one in particular. I'm guessing she had major daddy issues and pretended that guy was him so she could get her revenge on "dear old dad", or else he represented an ex she never forgave for cheating on her or dumping her or whatever, because enough was enough was TOO MUCH!!! (She has him go to prison twice for crimes he didn't commit, first for killing a woman and then for killing the woman who really did kill her. One of those women cheated on him, the other was a psycho who hated him. What does that tell you??? And why do I get the feeling that when she wrote about all the abuse he endured while in prison she was also stroking her lady bits???)
And if the author was a man using a woman's name (back in the late 70's when this was written, that was done a lot), then I'm guessing he was jealous of the character he wrote for being everything he wasn't in real life and so he decided to get revenge on him, and every other Chad he felt inferior to.
But what really bugged me the most was that the two best characters in the story (who would have been the H and h if this has been a historical romance instead of a train wreck saga) were wasted, because the story turned to crap.
For some reason, the author decided to take the Berean family and systematically tear it to shreds! It's like she got a perverse pleasure from making the characters miserable, one in particular. I'm guessing she had major daddy issues and pretended that guy was him so she could get her revenge on "dear old dad", or else he represented an ex she never forgave for cheating on her or dumping her or whatever, because enough was enough was TOO MUCH!!! (She has him go to prison twice for crimes he didn't commit, first for killing a woman and then for killing the woman who really did kill her. One of those women cheated on him, the other was a psycho who hated him. What does that tell you??? And why do I get the feeling that when she wrote about all the abuse he endured while in prison she was also stroking her lady bits???)
And if the author was a man using a woman's name (back in the late 70's when this was written, that was done a lot), then I'm guessing he was jealous of the character he wrote for being everything he wasn't in real life and so he decided to get revenge on him, and every other Chad he felt inferior to.
But what really bugged me the most was that the two best characters in the story (who would have been the H and h if this has been a historical romance instead of a train wreck saga) were wasted, because the story turned to crap.
October 3, 2025
The operative word for this book is right there on the cover: saga! This is a story that takes place over years, with a heroine who starts out relatively young and then is torn between two brothers, and then all sorts of incredibly bad stuff goes down with one of them (seriously, it’s hard to read), and then the heroine doesn’t seem to realize that the other brother is interested in her, and he doesn’t seem to realize that she’s interested in him and…oh, good lord, it goes on for 672 pages.
This book came out in 1979, and it strongly represents what fiction was doing in the 70s. And this book is labeled as fiction rather than romance, and I think that’s correct. While there is a romantic element to this, it’s so complicated and twisted up in existing relationships, familial relationships, and more that I felt I was reading much more of a saga than I was of a romance (even though the couple's clinch pose on the cover sells that!).
This book came out in 1979, and it strongly represents what fiction was doing in the 70s. And this book is labeled as fiction rather than romance, and I think that’s correct. While there is a romantic element to this, it’s so complicated and twisted up in existing relationships, familial relationships, and more that I felt I was reading much more of a saga than I was of a romance (even though the couple's clinch pose on the cover sells that!).
December 12, 2024
god what a miserable book. why make me so invested in peter only to give him such a miserable life. what a painful book and so unfair. it's not romance at all. just misery after misery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
not-for-me
September 2, 2025No idea.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews