What readers are saying about Chasing Eden A Memoir
★★★★★ “As someone who is obsessed with memoir, I can say this one stands with the best. Readers will see similarities to the fathers in Educated and The Glass Castle, but this in no way makes Cherilyn’s story predictable. I was glued to my seat, fingernails dug in, going from tears of frustration to gasps of shock to being so angry that I wanted to throw my iPad across the room. However and delightfully so, there were also enough laughs and beautiful moments to get me through the saga of neglect and abuse.”
★★★★★ “Riveting! Funny and simultaneously horrifying!”
★★★★★ “Emotional, witty, heart-wrenching, engaging.”
★★★★★ “The author is a master storyteller. You will not be disappointed!”
★★★★★ I absolutely loved this book. It’s a very moving and honest account of what it was like to grow up as the child of a narcissist who put his own desires and goals ahead of the well-being of his family… This is truly an inspiring story, particularly for anyone who has grown up in an abusive family. I highly recommend this book!
★★★★★ “Such graphic word pictures that I couldn’t put the book down.”
★★★★★ “This is a book about the power of hope. While trapped in its pages, I laughed, cried, and dreamt too.”
★★★★★ “This is a gripping, heart-wrenching, actual-factual, living nightmare!”
★★★★★ “As a literary scholar, I was compelled by the fine tensions and suspense Clough builds in her memoir.”
★★★★★ “For readers who’ve appreciated the introspection of Educated, Clough adds another voice to understanding the way in which extremist beliefs are lived out in family life.”
★★★★★ “Chasing Eden is a coming-of-age story lived and written by Cherilyn Clough. A master storyteller, she starts simply with her early memories of love for her family. She traces the growing dysfunction of the parents and how it separates the family from others and society. Without diagnosing them, she traces the mood swings of her father and the anxieties of her mother as they interweave with their rigid beliefs, lies, and law-breaking leading the family further and further off-grid. The little bits of love and support she experiences along the way while seeming never to be allowed to bloom and flourish, do help her as she makes a life-changing decision as she comes of age. The last pages (no fair peeking) are beautiful and satisfying. I am looking forward to her sequel.”
★★★★★ “This one spoke to my soul. Beyond words, reading this book changes you.”
★★★★★ “As a trauma therapist, I will be recommending this book to my clients.”
★★★★★ “I feel personally richer and more resilient for having read it.”
★★★★★ “What an entrancing book! I could feel the wind blowing through the holes in the house. I could feel the chill of the cold nights. I could also feel the love of her grandparents. I was reading as fast as I could because the story is so gripping. Religious abuse is real. She experienced it, yet she continued to hold on to her superpowers and survive.”
★★★★★ “Reading this story equal parts hurt and healed, as I saw myself in the pages. It makes me feel not alone to hear another’s story. We’re all in this together, and God can bring beauty from the ashes of our hurts.”
★★★★★ “Chasing Eden is the poignant story of a young girl’s search for unconditional love and acceptance in a bewildering world full of contradictions.”
Cherilyn Christen Clough 