The Eden Tree

by Peter Worthington

" Mark Twain said, "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." John James Morgan knew the day he was born. Two days before his sixty-first birthday he found out why.
John is a happily married businessman, father and grandfather, living in Cheshire, in the heart of England. Happy, that is, until his family face a crisis. A terminal one.
At the local market, a flower-seller tells John a story that changes his life. Assured his destiny is in his own hands, John crosses the globe in pursuit of a religious artefact which has remained hidden for two thousand years. Presented with an antique box containing maps, parchments and a bag of leaves, John returns to the UK and witnesses a miracle.
With the box in his possession, John and his family find new friends and enemies, lives are threatened and people die, although some will be healed. With the help of many different people, from all walks of life, John's journey will finally lead him to the discovery of an extraordinary and mysterious tree. But what will this Eden tree mean to John, his family, their faith and their future?
The Eden Tree is author Peter Worthington's first novel, a fictional account based on his own experiences with his son, John Wesley, who underwent treatment for cancer but sadly passed away shortly after his seventh birthday. The Eden Tree has allowed Peter to give his much-loved son "a happier ending."

Genres: Christian Fiction

295 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 19, 2016

About the author

Peter Worthington lives in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire with his wife Margaret. Peter has enjoyed a bright and varied career as a church minister, financial adviser and internet consultant.

Now retired he is busier than ever thanks to his three grandchildren, studying for an Open University Degree in Creative Writing, voluntary work, playing World of Warcraft, serving on the board of a housing association and writing.

He has previously published short stories in a number of Christian magazines. His first novel, The Eden Tree (published by Clink Street Publishing 19th July 2016 RRP £8.99 paperback, RRP £2.99 ebook) is available to purchase from online retailers including amazon.co.uk and to order from all good bookstores.

Reviews

[Kathleen (Kat) Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading debut novels because it truly gives me a chance to meet new authors who are living their dream of putting their love of writing out there for the world to read. Peter Worthington is one such author as he debuts The Eden Tree. Combining a sense of adventure and archaeology of religious artifacts, the search begins. As two brothers locate a ancient box buried beneath a home in the basement in Joppa, they find it holds something amazing and miraculous. Truly the find of the century if it is in fact genuine. A wooden box bearing a design on the lid of a tree surrounded by golden angels. Within the box contains the last will and testament of Simon Peter, follower of Jesus Christ, some maps and a white bag containing some crushed leaves.

After taking it to their uncle, an expert in museum antiquities, he advises them on what it contains and who must be the one to possess it. The only person who can take possession of the box is the man with a tattoo on his hands that bear the same picture the lid has on it. He is the only one and they must hold onto it until he contacts them. It might be in this lifetime or after theirs but it must be kept for the one who can wield the power of what the chest holds.

John Wesley is that such man living in England but unaware that the life sentence given to his grandson Wesley John Morgan who is facing terminal cancer at age 7. They have exhausted all options and now there is only time to make him comfortable until God calls him home. But when John stumbles upon a man in a flower stall, who convinces him that he is destined to receive something of value that only he can possess, John is more than curious. Since he possesses the same said tattoo on his hand, the contents of the ancient box is now been released to him. It contains the crushed leaves from the Tree of Eden, which will provide miraculous healing to those who receive them. Along with detailed maps and the last will of Simon Peter, describing the location of the Tree of Eden in the Garden mentioned in the Bible that no one has been able to find. When John uses the leaves on his grandson, he is miraculously healed without any medical explanation and sets off a warning to those who have been looking for this box for their own means and purposes.

I received The Eden Tree by Peter Worthington compliments of Authoright and Clink Street Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation aside from a free copy of this novel in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion. I think the premise is wonderful, but we know based on biblical text, the Garden of Eden can never be found. But it is fun to imagine what might happen if it could. This is a fictional account based on the author's own experiences with his son, John Wesley, who underwent treatment for cancer but sadly passed away shortly after his seventh birthday. The Eden Tree has allowed Peter to give his much-loved son, a happier ending. A sequel is coming which readers get a small sneak peek at in the conclusion of this one. For me, this one rated a 4 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In May I received a request for the Blog Tour of ‘The Eden Tree’. Although this book sounded like a very different read than my usual reads, I was immidiately fascinated by the sounds of ‘The Eden Tree’. Also the beautiful looking cover really grabbed my attention and as fast as I could, I started reading.

‘The Eden Tree’ is a beautifully written book about John James Morgan. John is living a good life, being a father and grandfather. But one day his life changes forever, when a man tells him a life changing story that gives John hope again. Soon John is on a journey to find an religious artefact. And when John comes home with this artefact, he witnesses a miracle.

Well, this book really was different than my usual reads. And although this book wasn’t really for me, I did enjoy it. I loved the way the author was able to put a lot of passion inside this book. And this book just was beautifully written. I loved reading about John’s journey and all the people he met. And although there were a lot of characters in this book, I still felt like I could keep them all apart in my head. Which is huge for me, since I always have a lot of trouble with keeping a lot of characters apart.

There was also a religious aspect to this book. And although I’m not religious at all, I did enjoy this part of the book. It made this book feel even more special to me.
I learned that this book is a tribute to Peter’s real son John Wesley, who sadly passed away. And during this book you can definitely feel the love Peter has for his son. This made this read definitely more special. And Peter Worthington did a great job, if you ask me.

[David Baird · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a surprise to me I must admit. When I first picked it up I had no idea how much love had clearly been put into the book and the story behind it..that came as soon as i opened the book and read the dedication and the acknowledgements and I was immediately touched that the author plans to help Great Ormond Street Hospital through this book.

Even before chapter one I had a warm fuzzy feeling tingling within me.. the anticipation

The story follows John, his world starts to fall apart. Wesley is terminally ill and there seems no hope.

Little does he know many years ago a box was found that contained the leaves of the Eden Tree. This box has been kept safe under strict instructions it’s only to be given to one man.. the man who bares the symbol and asks for help.. Without knowing what is about to happen John is whisked away on an adventure where a cure exists.

I must admit I’m not religious but I have the utmost respect for anyone who does… I wasn’t sure at first if this book would be for me with its religious undertone but it’s done in such a way that if anything I found it intriguing, it was very well written so even someone like myself could enjoy the tale

It’s a fast paced book and I felt a couple of the relationships that formed happened a bit quickly but I can see why the author did this.. there was such much to cram in this book.. so much story to tell and quite a few characters but it all worked well.

The characters themselves were great, lots of them, each with a different personality. Sometimes with so many characters it’s hard to remember who is who but not with this book, the author clearly defines each character and their place in the tale

It a nice, well written story that’s heart-warming but at the same time has the added buzz of adventure

One thing I did think early on with the story is if you got these magic leaves..how could you only help one person..if you don’t, how do you choose who to save..whilst also trying to keep this cure safe as anything like this would clearly be exploited. It was good to see the author tackle this towards the end of the book where the family discuss life and death.. it would be good to see this explored more but I imagine that would be a very difficult tale to write if it was possible.

This book is a labour of love and you can tell just how much the author has put into this tale. Every time I read a chapter I thought of the real Wesley and how the author has wrote this for him and it gives the book that extra something in my opinion

I liked this one.. a lot.

[Angelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

***I received the eBook free as a review copy from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review***

This book was an enjoyable and relaxing read.
The story starts off with two brothers, who find an old and intricately carved box in Jaffa. The contents are priceless maps and scrolls and, most importantly, some apparently magical healing leaves from the Tree of Eden. The reader then gets introduced to the main protagonist, called John Morgan, of the story. The book is told in his perspective and he lived a peaceful life with his wife, children and recently his grandson. But when one of his family members gets fatally sick, John's life starts to spiral out of control.
The book has a pleasant writing style. Admittedly, the story didn't really draw me in at first, but then I got interested. Despite the action and fighting that happened in some parts of the book, the writing was somehow calming and relaxing. It might sound like an odd combination, but it worked really well. I also noticed that the story had minimal descriptions, which is another part I found refreshing. The author only added as much as was needed to set the scene and enable the reader to imagine how the place looks like. The story wasn't temporarily stopped because of some lengthy descriptions and the plot could smoothly progress. The individual actions of the characters were also summarized curtly, but written in such a way that he reader doesn't miss out on anything. The only downside to this method is that the non-action parts of the story seemed sometimes slightly dull and the protagonist sounded detached from the happenings and showed little emotion.
Sometimes I felt like the plot was straying away ever so slightly from the main story line. John Morgan runs a family business and hopes to expand the business by opening different departments. This became a reason for avid discussion among his family, friends and other business associates. While I understand that those discussions are as much part of the book as the mystery about the Tree of Eden, I was uninterested by them. I couldn't help but think, that those talks weren't bringing the reader any closer to the actual plot of the book. That might just be me, because the parts describing the business felt irrelevant to me.
I found the concept very interesting as well. It has a religious background, talking about Jesus and the Garden of Eden. I found it interesting that those religious stories were then mixed into real-life, coming to life themselves as a result. I think that was really well done.
Overall, I found this book really enjoyable and relaxing. Some spots in the book felt dull and emotionless to me, but the rest was interesting to read.