Eden Undone

An Afternoon with Abbott Kahler

 
 

At the height of the Great Depression, Los Angeles oil mogul George Allan Hancock and his crew of Smithsonian scientists came upon a gruesome scene: two bodies, mummified by the searing heat, on the shore of a remote Galápagos island. For the past four years Hancock and other American elites had traveled the South Seas to collect specimens for scientific research. On one trip to the Galápagos, Hancock was surprised to discover an equally exotic group of humans: European exiles who had fled political and economic unrest, hoping to create a utopian paradise. As Hancock and his fellow American explorers would witness, paradise had turned into chaos.

Using never-before-published archives, Abbott Kahler weaves a chilling, stranger-than-fiction tale worthy of Agatha Christie. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the march to World War II, with a mystery as alluring and curious as the Galápagos itself, Eden Undone explores the universal and timeless desire to seek utopia—and lays bare the human fallibility that, inevitably, renders such a quest doomed.

Featured Book: Eden Undone: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War II

Event Details:

  • Seating is general admission; first come, first served

  • A public book signing will immediately follow the discussion at the Midtown Cinema. Purchasing an author’s new book from the Midtown Scholar Bookstore is required for entry to the signing line. Books will be available for purchase on-site at the Midtown Cinema, in addition to the Midtown Scholar Bookstore.

About the Speaker:

Abbott Kahler, formerly writing as Karen Abbott, is the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City; American Rose; Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy; and The Ghosts of Eden Park. She is also the host of Remus: The Mad Bootleg King, a podcast about legendary Jazz Age bootlegger George Remus. A native of Philadelphia, she lives in New York City and in Greenport, New York.